Winding Memories: The Beggining
by lilvalchan
Summary: How can one person have so much impact in his life? Destiny, that is what all of this is about. Vincent will soon discover all this and more, once he discovers the experiment of Destiny. One that changes his life forever.
1. Chapter 1

**Winding Memories**

**Valerie V.**

**Authors Notes: **_First of all, this is an AU. For those of you who do not know, an AU means Alternate Universe, which means I use the idea of the story, but I add my own things. I tried to write this as close to the original story line so everything I write about ties back into Final Fantasy VII and Advent Children as best as it can. This story is set **in pre-Advent children** and **pre-Dirge of Cerberus**. I also wrote this **BEFORE **Dirge of Cerberus was released in America, so keep that in mind please.I would also like to add that the Journal entries are written differently in Destiny's head than what is on paper for those who wonder who writes journals in a story format. The diary entrees are just in story format for your benefit…because I doubt you all want to read collected thoughts. The basic format of this story is written in an odd way, to where you have flash back and present day stories .Also note that some dialog is in Japanese. I did this for its affect and no other purpose really. It just seemed more dramatic in some situations to use Japanese instead of English. I ask that if you do not like this story to respect it and go on your merry way. I can understand your respective criticisms, but please do not go out of your way to be mean. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this little AU. Also for legal purposes the only character I own is Destiny (literally, I copy righted her), all other characters and original story line of Final Fantasy VII, (including Advent Children) are trademarks of SquareEnix Inc (HOORAY FOR SQUARE ENIX :D)._

_I also want to thank my good friend Bobby, without him some of the parts in my story would not be here. Thanks so much for your support and hours of RP. You sent me in the right direction!_

Destiny walked in the old Shin-ra mansion. No matter how many times she begged him, Vincent always refused to move. He said it had been his home for so long he couldn't imagine anywhere else to live. So instead of leaving, she fixed the place up in her spare time. Nothing painted, nothing changed, she simply threw out trash, swept and mopped, and from time to time she polished the old wood. All in all she and Vincent had made it a reasonable home to live in, and for two years now, it had been their home. She always liked coming home to him at the end of the day, regardless of what it was he was doing. Seeing Vincent Valentine's face was like taking in air. Everything about him made life easier to her. She put her black bag down on the nearby sofa, and looked for any sign of him, overall doubting his presence; she called for him, her sweet voice echoing into the old room.

"Vincent?" She called, her head still turning around searching for him. Silence returned her answer, and she figured that he wasn't home yet. So instead of waiting for a delayed answer, she walked up the new set of stairs that Vincent had put there in the place of the old ones, and made her way down the circling spiral stairs that led her to the old library. For her health, Vincent had taken out all of the books that had to do with Sephiroth and his chronicles, so Destiny walked into an empty library with bare shelves and little stacks of paper and small books nearby.

"Vincent?" She called again, hoping he would be there, but again silence returned her answer.

Shrugging, Destiny grabbed the small, brown leather book from the desk at the end of the book shelves and began writing in it. Hopefully Vincent would be home soon to tell her any news he had received from Cloud and the gang. She opened her journal as she sat down, and began writing as she did every night she came home to an empty house. The diary's contents were never of what happened that day, but rather what happened the few months after Sephiroth's supposed death. She wanted to remember everything, incase someone else needed to know their story.

_Journal Entry 1_

It was dark and rainy, as the perfect setting for danger always was, or so Destiny thought, who had always read stories that started like this. She could feel the cold wind as it and the freezing rain threw itself against her back as she ran closer and closer to the old mansion coming into view. Her silver hair stuck to her thin neck and face, as rain drizzled from the ends of it trailing down her body. She clutched the white shirt around her pale body, as her vision was beginning to fade; her loss of blood was making her woozy. The mansion was only five feet from her, but to Destiny the door knob was a million miles away. Quicker than she imagined, her hand stretched out to meet the doorknob to the old Shin-ra mansion, and it turned with ease, the doors opening into its seemingly safe haven, and she came crashing to the dusty floor below, leaving her feet to kick the doors closed. She lay on the ground for quite some time, trying to catch her breath before a voice gave her recognition.

"Who are you?" A male voice spoke as his figure came into view. She could see his red cape sweeping the floor softly, stirring up the dust resting on it. His voice scared her with its rough, dark tone, and she scrambled to get away from him, leaving a smear of blood from her side behind on the floor. Better to answer him than be silent, so she responded the best she could without trying to sound scared.

"Dest-.." her voice was cut off by a loud pounding sound on the door, and shouts of men screaming various things, none of them audible, except the word "property".

"Never mind," He said to her, taking his gun from its holster at his side. With quick ease he pointed it at the door, waiting for the men to enter. "Are they after you?" He asked, not bothering to glance down to her.

"Yes." Destiny answered obviously tired. "I've been running from them for about three days."

"Who are they?" Vincent asked, focusing on the doors.

"Shin-ra scientists," Destiny answered softly.

"Oh well in that case let's welcome them, shall we?" Vincent answered, still giving her no attention with his eyes. Vincent detested Shin-ra, and if they were after her, that was enough reason for him to protect her. "Get away from the door." He commanded to her in a shout. Destiny might have been wounded, but she was quite fast, and pushed herself from the floor in front of the entree way, as the doors burst open slamming against the walls behind them.

"Get out of my house." Vincent said darkly, taking the safety off of his gun, firing a shot at the feet of the men.

"We will leave when we take our property back with us!" One of the men shouted from his left—there were three there, all wearing dirty lab coats and holding silver guns.

"What property? If you're talking about that girl, she isn't your property." Vincent responded.

"She is Shin-ra property!" The man argued again, his arms shaking so bad he couldn't hold the gun enough to aim properly.

"_She_ is a human being and not property" Vincent said in a clam deadly tone, now rather annoyed at their persistence.

"Regardless of what you think property is, she belongs to us and we aren't leaving without her!" The man answered in response, frustration in his voice.

"Fine, have it your way, I'm going to start shooting now, because I'm not giving you back this girl." Vincent responded "You want a lab rat, use your employees." He said, firing a bullet at the scientist on the left, letting it barely graze the man's ear. The man let out a cry, and fell backwards, dropping his gun.

"Next time I won't miss." Vincent warned, aiming his gun again.

The scientist in the middle gulped hard, looking as though he was mulling things over in his head. Making up his mind, he charged full force at Vincent. It was apparent that the man was obviously more than just a scientist to be able to possess such skill.

Vincent didn't waste a second or a shot; he fired, hitting the man square in the chest, and the man's limp body crashed into Vincent's, knocking them both to the dusty floor.

The other two men seemed to gain some confidence from this little episode, and they too leapt at the chance to possibly injure Vincent. However, Destiny had seen this coming, and though weak from her injury, she jumped at one with a fierce force behind her frail frame, and knocked one of the men down in order to subdue him, as the other one raced towards a bullet that was ready for him. Vincent had fired before any of them had noticed, and the second scientist went down without another word or movement.

Vincent threw the first scientist off of him to aim properly, and while the third man was in the middle of attempting to pin Destiny down, a bullet pierced his arm, and he went down with a cry.

"Leave, and tell Rufus if he's still alive that your pursuit on this girl needs to end." Vincent demanded.

The man didn't have to be told twice, and he ran as fast as he could out the door giving Vincent and angry glare before he disappeared into the stormy night. Vincent sighed heavily as he placed his gun back at his side, he regretted having to kill more people, but between their life and this girl's, she took precedence. He had committed two new sins, and his conscience was starting to weigh heavily on him.

"Why are they chasing you?" Vincent asked, without looking at her as he moved the bodies of the scientists from the entrance out the door.

Destiny responded in silence, very much fearing this man, she had no idea who he was or why he was here, all she knew is that he had just saved her, and he had a gun.

"Don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you. If it makes you feel better, I'll put this down." He said, tossing the gun to the couch, where it landed with no sound. He locked the doors into the Shin-ra mansion before turning his attention to her. "Did you escape their lab?" Vincent asked, this time walking towards her to kneel to the floor where she laid on her side. Blood was collecting into a puddle on the old wood below the two of them.

She responded with a nod, clutching her wound in pain.

"You never told me your name." Vincent said, looking down to her.

"It's Destiny." She responded softly, her blue eyes gazing up to his red ones.

"Vincent." He said, pulling her up to him.

"Let me heal your wound…."He said, his hand moving towards her waist.

"NO!" she cried out, jerking away from him and moving backwards from where he stood. "Then you'll hurt me too." She said softly.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I myself was a Shin-ra experiment." Vincent responded, his arm once again extending to meet hers. She stayed in place and wondered if she could trust him. So far he had saved her, introduced himself, and offered to heal her. If he couldn't be trusted, what was worse than going back to Shin-ra?

"Let me see." Vincent said as he moved towards her attempting to allow his hand met her blood-stained shirt. When Destiny complied he lifted the white cloth a little, exposing her bullet wound and the words **J.E.N.O.V.A.** in big bold letters on her lower stomach. He pressed his hand over the wound firmly, and a green light emitted from his palm. Destiny felt a calming warm light cradle her side, and mere seconds later felt as though she had never been shot in the first place. Once he removed his hand, the wound was gone and only blood and the words **J.E.N.O.V.A.** sat proudly against her pale skin loud and clear once more.

"Thank you." Destiny said, looking towards the floor.

"You came from Shin-ra, right? What did they do to you there?" Vincent asked.

"Various things, most of the time it involved blood and test tubes filled with light, and sometimes they would inject me with things. I have been running and hiding from them since I escaped after the Sister Ray incident. The scientists caught up with me two days ago, and since then I have been running from them." She said with courage in her voice, but she was still very scared.

"Sounds like Shin-ra, never changing, still up to their slimy tricks." Vincent hissed. "Are you, a clone of Sephiroth too?" He asked.

"Who is Sephiroth?" Destiny asked, looking confused.

"You don't know about Sephiroth?" Vincent asked

"No." She answered

"What about Jenova?" Vincent asked

"I thought it was my name for the longest time. Other than that…" Destiny trailed off.

"You've never heard anything?" Vincent asked

"Nothing" She answered

"Materia or Life stream, mako… anything?" Vincent asked, now getting angry.

"No, I don't even know what that is." Destiny answered softly, now feeling threatened by his angry tone.

"Come with me, I think there are things you should read." He said almost darkly, turning towards the staircase that led them to the library below.

"You are an experiment; obviously you too are a clone of Sephiroth. Let me explain this best I can. Sephiroth was made from Jenova, who was speculated to be an ancient. Ancients once communicated with the earth and lived in harmony with it. A while back, they found Jenova preserved, and used her DNA to make Sephiroth. Sephiroth is the son of Hojo. He would have been a normal boy if it wasn't for his parents. Sephiroth tried to use the life's energy to destroy our planet until we stopped him. Life stream is what heals our earth, it is what makes it live. Materia, what I healed you with, is made from mako, which is concentrated life stream. Materia has special properties that give its user abilities, such as healing. Sephiroth was utilizing a special black materia to get to the life stream to destroy all life on earth. We killed him about a year ago, and now as a result people are infected with geostigma." Vincent explained, not even bothering to look at her the whole time he talked.

"So what am I, just a failed lab experiment…? Am I an ancient too?" Destiny asked, confused by his quick explanation.

"I'm afraid so, you too are another person ruined by Shin-ra. But don't worry; there are others like you who are also failed experiments. These experiments became good people who protect the planet with their gifts. Perhaps you should meet one of them, his name is Cloud Strife." Vincent said, sitting her down on a nearby chair.

"What am I, a monster?" Destiny asked, feeling her heart crush beneath her chest.

"Only if you allow yourself to be," Vincent answered.

"You aren't going to turn me back into Shin-ra are you?" Destiny asked

Vincent turned to face her, and lowered his eyed to hers again, his red ones piercing into her soft eyes of blue.

"I would never turn you back into that place. Besides, they haven't been around for a year. We destroyed the main lab a while ago. I know Rufus is around somewhere, but I don't know if they have secret facilities. In any case, I won't turn you in. You're welcome to stay with me, though I can't say I am going to be good company." Vincent offered

"I don't want to be a burden." Destiny said softly.

"I suggest you rest. There is a spare bed in the room upstairs just outside the door we came in. We'll talk more tomorrow, I'm sure what I have said wasn't too easy for you to take in." Vincent said, offering his hand to her again.

Destiny took his offer, and grasped his hand, feeling his cool skin against hers. A shiver ran up her spine as she touched him, and for the first time noticing his left arm was a claw, this took her by surprise and she gasped suddenly.

"What?" Vincent asked, following her eyes to his left arm. "Oh, that? That is my other half. I'm afraid it was a gift from Dr. Hojo a long time ago."

"Hojo did that to you?" Destiny responded, allowing her to be pulled up by him, as he led her to the long hallway.

"Don't worry about that for now. Just know that you can stay as long as you want, and I will protect you to the best of my ability." Vincent said, still steering her up the winding stairs, holding her hand to make sure she didn't fall.

"You don't have to, I won't bother you long." Destiny replied, now feeling sleepiness catch up with her.

"Well if you should decide to stay, you may." Vincent said, stopping at the top of the staircase in the doorway of her new room. "Goodnight, I'll be down there if you need me." Vincent added, his head motioning to the library from where they came.

Destiny sighed, her heart still feeling heavy from their previous conversation.

"Don't worry about what you learned earlier, Destiny. Just remember you have the power to do good things, you can be a beautiful butterfly instead of a monster." Vincent comforted, leading her to the old twin sized bed in the corner. She sat down onto the old, squeaky mattress, and she looked up to him with questioning eyes. "You'll be safe here." He reassured her once more, before turning around to face the cold stone that led to his coffin.

_A brief interlude_

Destiny had put her head down on the desk, feeling tired from her tedious writing, her short silver hair rested against her shoulders and desk below her. She could feel herself dozing off into a silent slumber as her eyes grew heavier by the second. Just as her eyes were closing, she felt a familiar warm hand on her back.

"Up late again I see." Vincent said softly, his finger tips brushing her back tenderly.

"You're home." She responded turning to grant him a smile.

"Sorry I'm late. I know I told you I'd be home hours ago. I got a call from Cloud about Barrett leaving to go find oil wells, so I went to bid him a farewell. The party lasted a little longer than I expected; II almost got killed by Yuffie, five of us had to stop her from strangling Cait Sith after she got drunk…" Vincent said, examining her with his eyes.

"It doesn't matter, I came home late too. I figured if it was an emergency you would have called, so I came down here." Destiny responded.

"You should stop doing that before you go crazy." Vincent said, down putting his right arm around her from behind the chair she sat in.

"You only go crazy down here if you're Sephiroth. You saved me from being a monster, and I don't think I could change at this point." Destiny yawned, stretching.

"I trust you will remain the same, but anyone can change on a whim, remember that." Vincent warned, his hand brushing her chin at the end of his words. "Come on, it's late, and from the looks of it, you've been writing for hours." Vincent added, removing his arms from her, and stepping back to wait for her. "You shouldn't be up this late. You know it hurts you when you exert yourself too far."

"I know." Destiny said, standing up from her chair, and closing the leather book in front of her, and then turning to Vincent so she could rest her head on his chest as she brought herself close to him for an embrace. "I'm glad you're back."

Vincent responded by enclosing one arm around her loosely. He could feel her warmth against him, bringing a calm serene feeling over him.


	2. Chapter 2

_Welcome back to my story, and welcome to chapter 2. There is A LOT of Lucrecia bashing in here, as I really dislike her, so if you're a fan of Lucrecia, don't read this. This one isn't terribly long, it's one of the shorter chapters. Enjoy!_

_Journal Entry 2_

Destiny awoke to a cold hand touching her back, which made her jump at the feeling. She turned over to see Vincent there, with the same facial expression he wore for her last night.

"You've been sleeping far too long." Vincent said "How are you feeling?"

"I didn't sleep much last night." Destiny responded, pushing herself up from the mattress that had cradled her. She ran her right arm through her hair, moving back her silver strands, only for them to fall back into her face.

"Hmm," Vincent hummed monotonously, his eyes wandering over her slowly. "Give me your arm." He said, pointing to her right.

"Why?" She asked, while raising it slowly, until he took it, and looked over it. "Is something wrong?"

"You have geostigma too." He answered, his fingers dancing over the dark marks, causing her to wince a bit. "How long have you had this?" Vincent asked, still examining her arm.

"I don't know, I think about a year, maybe less." Destiny answered, pulling her arm from him softly.

"Do you have any other marks?" Vincent asked, looking concerned.

"Only a small patch on my side, it's not that bad." Destiny answered

"Its still geostigma, and it still hurts the same, it also spreads. I think we should go to Midgar, I know people there, and they might be able to help." Vincent said, walking to the door way of the room.

"Wait. What is geostigma, and why would we go back to Midgar, isn't that Shin-ra headquarters?" Destiny asked, now quite concerned.

"I'll explain geostigma later, and as I have said Shin-ra was shut down a while ago." Vincent responded.

"Isn't Midgar a long way off? And are you sure we can trust Shin-ra to be out of the picture?" Destiny

"I'm not exactly going to just shove you off by yourself, I'm going with you." Vincent explained

"Why are you doing this for me?" Destiny wondered out loud as her eyes darted towards the door.

"Self-redemption," Vincent answered shortly, turning his head from her as he walked down the stairs slowly. "Oh yeah" He called, stopping in mid step "I have some clothes for you on the chair. They aren't much, but you can get some that fit you later."

Destiny's eyes followed the floor to the chair where she saw a white shirt and a pair of black pants folded perfectly on the chair next to her bed. From the looks of it already, they were a little long for her, but she stood up to try them on anyways.

"You'll be down stairs in five minutes." Vincent responded, and his footsteps lost their sound a few moments later.

Destiny looked over the clothes, as she held them in front of her. The shirt would be okay, but the pants might pose a problem. She pushed her old white shirt off, blood now staining its once white face, as she examined it with a frown. She discarded it a moment later, and pulled the other shirt on, buttoning as far as it would go. She was well endowed, and so the buttoning thing didn't really work for her breasts, but she really didn't have any choice in what she could wear.

Destiny sighed, and discarded her old pants as well; pulling on the black ones he had given her. They were too long, but that was nothing the old fashioned rolling up trick wouldn't cure. All she had left were her black boots that she had stolen from Shin-ra, and with the rest of the outfit, it didn't look so bad. However, now wasn't the time to examine her clothes or even think about fashion (and its not like she cared anyways). Abandoning that thought, she left the small room, walking out the door and down the stairs where Vincent said he would be, and sure enough, there he was, loading his gun and holding what looked like a long staff in between his arm and chest.

Vincent didn't take his concentration away from his weapon, but he knew she was there, and after a moment he spoke. "This is yours." He said as he put the gun in the holster at his side, and then tossed the red staff at her, which she caught almost instantly.

"Do you know how to use that?" Vincent asked, turning his head to her.

"Not very well, I'm afraid." Destiny answered.

"Well, you're about to get better at it." Vincent informed.

"What do you mean?" Destiny asked.

"We have a long way to get to Midgar, and I am confident that you and I will encounter many battles. I can't fight them all off myself, so I could use your assistance in the matter." Vincent explained

"How far do we have to go exactly?" Destiny questioned

"If you want exact, I can't answer your question. I do know it will take us roughly six or seven days. We have to go around the mountains, across plains, and over the sea just to get to Midgar." Vincent answered. "Anymore questions?"

"No. Sorry, I didn't mean to ask so many." Destiny said softly.

"That's fine. Just stay on guard, we'll be sleeping under the stars." Vincent said while walking towards the front door. His right hand opened the door to the afternoon world, draped in the afternoon sun. "Oh. I almost forgot. When we get to town, we can get you some more suitable clothes, until then those will have to do." He added, stepping out the door, not even bothering to face her. Destiny followed, closing the old doors behind her, not even bothering to say 'bye' to wretched place.

_A short interlude_

Destiny stopped, holding her head wincing, it was acting up again, and the waves of pain were lasting longer, and becoming more intense.

"Are you down here again?" Vincent asked, interrupting her thoughts.

Destiny's head rose to give him eye contact, trying to force her lips to curve into smile. Vincent, not fooled by her attempt to mask her pain, frowned at her in disappointment.

"What did I tell you about over-exerting yourself?" Vincent warned, walking up to her, his frown growing ever longer.

"This is the first time it's acted up today, and I haven't been down here that long." Destiny argued.

"I don't care; it's Geostigma, not a cold. Geostigma doesn't just go away, Destiny. The only way you're going to get any better is if you rest, like I told you." Vincent retorted.

"I'm fine!" She yelled, rather surprised at her sudden out burst of anger.

"No you aren't." Vincent stated, looking down to her, standing next to the old rickety chair she sat in. Destiny didn't like it when he looked down to her, and knew he was angry when he did. "I told you to rest. I want you to do that." He added his frown now more of a glare.

"I'm sorry Vincent, I didn't mean to yell. Don't get upset. I'll rest now." Destiny whispered softly, her pain evident in her response. This brought Vincent down to one knee, and he put his hand on her arm.

"I wish you would listen to me about your condition, Dest." He sighed, his hand tightening on her arm slightly. Destiny lowered her head, as a tear escaped from her eye, and landed on her knee, now making him even more worried than before. "Come on, I'm going to put you to bed. You can always come back to write more after you sleep for a while." He said, pulling her to him, catching her in his arms as she fell from her chair.

Things weren't so bad in Destiny's mind, but Vincent always looked down on things, but that was just how Vincent was, that's how he had been since she met him.

_Journal Entry resumed_

Last she could remember they had only gotten as far as the edge of the mountains that surrounded Nibelheim as the moon rose over their steep tops. So far they had only encountered minimal enemies such as wolves and small goblins, and each time Vincent had been the victor and only participator in battle.

"You should learn to use that thing." Vincent said shortly, his back facing her. "The next time we fight, I'm not going to do anything unless you at least try." He added

Destiny gave him no answer, but caressed her arm where the Geostigma was living.

"Stop touching that." He grunted. Vincent was a little angry and on edge since they were so close to where Lucrecia's cave was. He hadn't been there in ten years. It used to be his favorite place in the world, but now he detested it, it made him bitter, as it brought back old emotions of lack of trust in human beings.

"I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be useless. I don't know much about my capabilities." Destiny answered

"You need to get in touch with that, before you turn into one of those monsters I told you about." Vincent huffed.

Destiny thought about his words, and her heart sank again. Would she really become a monster? Would she try to destroy the world too? Her thoughts were interrupted by Vincent's cold voice. "We're resting here."

"Are we going to take shifts in sleeping?" Destiny asked, not daring to look into his piercing red eyes.

"No. I don't require sleep to function." Vincent said. "Rest up; we have a long walk ahead of us."

She didn't understand what he meant by not needing sleep, but it chilled her heart, and thoughts to even go into it. How much did they experiment on him anyway, and why was he being colder than before? The thoughts turned in her head as she put the back of her head against the rock supporting her back. Her eyes closed, and even though she saw nothing, his red eyes continued to burn into her mind.

_Short Interlude_

Though it wasn't his place, his eyes scanned over the last few words, and he sighed, remembering that night that his heart had once again sunk, when Lucrecia's face had burned its image into his mind.

_Vincent's Handwriting_

Every time he had thought about her, anger rose in him. That anger was usually concentrated towards the human race and how he had never fully accepted its trust after the night he lost what made him human. His heart was still racing, he could still feel the throbbing pain from where the bullet had hit him, and somewhere there was lost anger which rose up and boiled over. He was torn between his unconditional love for Lucrecia, and his undying hate for her. His beloved woman, the thing he cared for most before Cloud had woken him up. Lucrecia, her hair, her eyes, the way she would smile at him. All these things caused him pain not only emotionally, but physically, as his heart pounded heavily against his cold chest. Why did it plague him? He wanted to at least pretend like he didn't care about her, or about anything. She had destroyed him, in his mind he knew that she was the reason he was a monster. She betrayed him, and so he was stuck a monster trying to redeem all the lives he took, all the innocent people he killed for revenge. He had never felt so hollow than at that moment, staring into what remained of Lucrecia. His left arm grasped the rock behind him, and it clutched around it, putting cracks into it. Perhaps he would come to grips with the fact that he did hate her. Or was there still something to love? No. He was ready to admit that she had betrayed him, and no amount of other fantasies in his mind would change that fact. His head lowered, and for the first time in years, Vincent Valentine had shed not one, but two tears for the betrayal that had caused him to shut off the rest of the world, and the trusts that it had to offer. It was time to fight the monster inside of him.

"Vincent." Destiny whispered, her hand reaching out for him.

He turned violently, anger evident in his face as his eyes glared deep into hers. "Why are you here?" He demanded, more embarrassed than angry.

"You were gone, I was worried." She answered quickly, taking a step back from him, her hand was still outstretched and she lowered it softly. "I didn't mean to bother you…"

Vincent had no response for the girl. He knew that she was only trying to help. This was the monster in him, the thing that betrayed all trust, all hope, and all light. He knew this, and maybe she did too from the soft look in her eyes. Her calm blue eased his violent ruby fury, as his expression calmed. She was only trying to help, he repeated in his mind. "I don't need you to worry about me." He said, now regretting those words. His response had come out colder than he wanted it too, and only in time did he realize how cold and callous they really were. What happened that day was what made him trust Destiny quicker than he had trusted anyone else. What she had said, not only made him think, it fought the monster in him for the first time.

"You worry about me, don't you? Can't I have some concern over you?" She asked, her hands clutching the white shirt.

He had no response, even if she had pushed back some of his anger, there was still pain there, and it was enough to still make him distant. She did have a point though, as much as he wanted to resist that fact.

When his answer came it was still much cooler that he wanted it to be. "I don't worry about you. You can take care of yourself, can you not? You did it this far."

"What has changed you all of the sudden?" Destiny asked "You were distant before, but this is ridiculous. What is it that bothers you at this moment that you feel so inclined to hurt me with your words?"

"Forgive me. I had some old memories that crawled on me." Vincent answered, walking past her, giving her no eye contact.

"You can't just apologize and not give me a reason!" Destiny shouted, she herself now angry at his "apology".

"It is none of your business why; they are my memories, are they not?" He growled, still walking away.

_A brief Interlude_

He put the pen down. He still hadn't told her why he had been so angry that night, and still hadn't mentioned a word about Lucrecia to her. He had never felt a reason to, and she had never asked again since that night. A small part of him felt guilty for never telling her, but the rest of him had advised that he keep it to himself, who knew what she would say or think is she knew about his dear betrayer, Lucrecia.


	3. Chapter 3

_Hey everyone! This is chapter three, and we'll be keeping chapter three here until I'm done revising the rest of the story. Don't worry though; there will be updates and plenty of them! I plan on making this story a series of many, for those who care to know._

_Alright, this one is much longer than the others. In fact, this one is the longest chapter of them all, so I hope you're comfortable and have all the snacks and beverages you want! Enjoy them and the story along with it! All feedback is welcomed, but please remember to be nice about it. You may dislike everything you want, but don't verbally abuse me. Thanks!_

_Journal Entry Three_

They were half way to Cosmo Canyon when the afternoon was beginning to set in. The silence between them was not only calming to Vincent, but somewhat justified, being that even if she was trying to help, she had interrupted his hate session. However, they both knew that this silence wouldn't last, and eventually someone had to break the ice.

It seemed too, just at that moment that the ice breakers had arrived, and in their path stood two large wolves, growling with foam at their mouths. Their yellow eyes glared at the two, and both seemed ready to fight. Vincent too was ready, and he fired a shot at one of them immediately, hitting the one on the left in the leg. Destiny, still unsure of what to do, let her instincts guide her, maybe she might be able to do _something_. All she could think of what to do was using it as a beating stick, and with her strength, it would serve adequate damage. She ran at the beast in front of her, swinging the pole horizontally, the end of it knocking the left wolf in the teeth giving it a gash in the mouth. It growled in response, leaping to attack her. Destiny had other plans, and putting the long pole in front of her, she took a large leap backwards, narrowly missing its swiping claws. Vincent, just in time, fired another shot but this time to the left wolf that had almost reached Destiny. This time his shot was much more accurate, and he hit the wolf in the neck, sending it to the ground where it stayed for good.

"Leap farther next time." He instructed, as she went in for the kill on the second wolf, only this one was quicker and dodged her attack. "And aim; watch their movements before you administer yours." He added, firing his last bullet into the right wolf, hitting it in the chest, which caused it to fly back a bit, before its movements ended.

"You did much better than the last two battles." He praised, his eyes giving her attention.

Destiny said nothing, still fearing even talking to him. She couldn't exactly read him well, and from the looks of his face, he was still quite mad. So she bowed her head in thanks, and then returned her head to its normal position. Vincent's eyes gave her one last glance before he walked in front of her, leading the way once more.

"We'll be at Cosmo Canyon in a few more hours." Vincent informed, his back shadowing her face.

With no words, Destiny followed him, staying in his shadow, hoping he wouldn't turn around. Something was pulling on her heart strings that day, something was crushing her, making her hurt. Inside she wanted to cry, but doing something like that in front of someone was childish in her mind. When she was small, crying seemed to be the only thing she knew how to do, but as she grew older, her crying didn't seem to come to her. All she could do was feel anger, sometimes pain, but never sadness, never again, until now. She stopped, and clutched her head, feeling pain and despair run through her heart and mind. What was this feeling?

The absence of her steps caused Vincent to turn around. The site of her forced his legs to walk back to her. He might have still been a little upset at her, but a part of him felt pity for her. His figure stood over her, his eyes piercing down onto her form now curled into a ball, as her hands grasped her head. She couldn't hear it, but she was screaming, as tears fell wildly from her eyes.

"OKAASAN" Destiny screamed with a shrill cry in her voice, her head pulsing with pain.

Vincent's eyes widened, then his assumptions were correct. Either she was a failed clone of Sephiroth, or she was an ancient, and either way was bad. Judging from her sliver hair, she was another failed clone. He knelt down to her, only to try to pull her arms from her body.

"Destiny" He growled, pulling on her. "Don't listen to what is in your head!" He added, freeing her hand.

"KAASAN, KAASAN!" Destiny continued.

"Stop it, this isn't necessary! Don't listen to whatever the voices are saying!" Vincent growled again, pulling her up to him from the ground. Seeing Cloud, he knew that if this continued, soon she would lose her actions and thoughts too. Whatever he did, he had to get her to shelter, or at least stop Sephiroth, or Jenova, or whoever it was talking to her.

"No, let me talk to okaasan! Leave me alone! Let me go!" She cried, fighting him violently.

"Stop it! You need to calm down!" He shouted, giving her a small shake, causing her to break down crying. Vincent, now sighing lowered himself and Destiny to the ground, as she sobbed against his restraining arms. "Shi," he said his right arm moving up to the back of her head.

Her head buried itself into Vincent's chest, as her tears clashed against him. "Okaasan" She sobbed, her voice trailing off. His arms came around her for some reason, but all they did was provide a restraint incase she were to attempt to flee or attack.

"It's okay." He said.

It took them both some time, but he had finally silenced her, and she had finally quit her sobbing. Her head had moved away from his tear-stained shirt. She looked at him, eyes irritated from her tears. She was still in pain, and Vincent understood. He brought his cape around her to shelter her from the wind, and he walked with her under his right arm. Once the pain had worn off, and she had returned herself to normal, and he let her walk next to him where he could keep a good eye on her.

"What did the voices say?" Vincent asked, looking down to her.

"Something about the promised land and a reunion, I don't understand either one of those things. All I could do was cry, and my heart felt like it was breaking," Destiny explained. "How long will this happen to me?" She asked.

"I don't have an answer for that. Cloud had those problems too; he stopped after he began to control himself." Vincent answered.

"I'll work on that." She sighed.

"You can master it in time, Cloud did, and he too was a lab rat." Vincent assured her.

The sun was now setting behind them, warming their backs, while wind blew their bodies many cool kisses. Cosmo Canyon grew ever near, the lights of the city coming alive one by one as the stars began their evening waltz in the sky.

"We can rest in the city when we get there. We should be there in an hour, maybe a little more if we run into any enemies on the way," Vincent informed.

"A bed sounds really nice right about now." Destiny responded, giving a little yawn. Somehow, her little comment had caused Vincent to smile, and he let out a small laugh.

_A Not-so-brief Interlude_

Destiny dropped her book, allowing it to crash to the floor. Not only was her geostigma acting up, but she couldn't believe that Vincent had never told her about his past. Even from the details he gave her in his small excerpt, she was still oblivious to what had turned him into Vincent. She hadn't asked him again for a reason; he didn't want to tell her. So what changed his mind now? He had seemed so sad that night, so lost in his old memories. She stood up, picked up her book and walked away from the desk that had held most of her time and attention. How could he not tell her, and worst of all, how could he tell her like this, in writing? She turned the corner, walking down the stone hallway, her bare feet tapping against the cold ground. He had seen her there a moment later, for he had come looking for her again, since it was three in the morning.

"Dest, are you okay?" Vincent asked, seeing the hurt in her eyes. His right arm came around her almost instantly as he pulled her to him protectively.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Destiny asked, pulling away from him, to look him in his eyes.

"Is this about my past?" Vincent asked, his soft look disappearing.

"Yes…Why didn't you tell me in person?" Destiny asked again, this time more demanding than before.

"I didn't think it meant anything to you." Vincent answered.

"Didn't mean anything to me? Do you think I don't care?" Destiny asked, a shout escaping her.

"I didn't think that!" Vincent argued, "You never asked again, I didn't think it meant something." Vincent lied.

"Well it means something to me, and you know it would have. You aren't stupid Vincent!" Destiny retorted, turning her back on him. "What is the real reason you didn't want to tell me?" Destiny asked. "Tell me the truth."

"I didn't want you to know. How would that have been like, 'Hi, I'm Vincent and I have been SHOT by my ex-lover, whom I completely trusted and loved with every INCH of my heart' does that sound like a good conversation starter to you?" Vincent yelled.

"Yeah that's EXACTLY how I imagined that conversation to go! Just know that I know you better than that, Vincent Valentine. You were trying to hide it; I'm not stupid; someone just doesn't go from wearing a suit to wearing a red cloak. You could have at least told me about Lucrecia and what she did, or at least about what they did to you. I don't even know your past! I don't even know about you, the REAL you. How could you rob someone who cares about you so much, of such information?" Destiny asked, her voice giving out. This argument was causing her geostigma to hurt worse than before.

"Do you want the story then? Is that why you're yelling at me? I didn't commit a crime, and I didn't ask you to care about me either!" Vincent yelled, now turning his back on her.

"Don't be bitter towards me just because I still have a heart. If you don't care about me, just say so and I'll leave you alone. I don't want to be the cause of your heart breaking again, if you still have one." Destiny said, waiting for his answer.

"I don't care about anyone." He lied, and the only reason he had responded this way, was the anger that Lucrecia had left in his heart towards people, that and a sense of anger towards her at the moment.

His response had hurt her. They had been together for two years, two long years of him helping her through everything, and she unknowingly helping him over-come his trust issues and painful remembrance of betrayal. To him, she was the thing he needed to make his hollow heart full, and the true reason he never told her about Lucrecia, was that she had started Destiny's life, it was her and Hojo who had created Sephiroth, and in turn created Destiny. That was nothing a person should ever hear. Especially when he once loved Lucrecia, and in his mind, Destiny might have blamed him too, and that was something he didn't want.

"I will leave you in peace then." She finally said clutching her book to her chest, tears falling from the physical pain geostigma was giving her. This response made him turn around, even though he was angry, he didn't want her to leave. She walked past him, giving him no eye contact.

"Dest…" He started, now reconsidering his words.

She ignored him, ascending the stairs, until she was no longer visible. Vincent had messed up, and he knew it. She was right, he should have told her, especially since she was the only person who had melted his icy heart. It was she who truly brought him out of his deep sleep, and now she was walking away because he was the one who had betrayed her. Memories flooded his mind, emotions in his heart swam in different directions, and he repeated his thoughts to himself again 'he had betrayed her'. His stomach felt sick, and he turned around, pursuing her.

Destiny had made it to the front entrance hall, before she had heard him behind her. She made no effort to turn around, and truthfully she couldn't.

"I loved Lucrecia, when I worked for Shinra as a Turk. She didn't return my feelings. She loved doctor Hojo who shot me, killing me. Hojo and Lucrecia experimented on my body, and turned me into this. He used monster cells, allowing me to transform into various creatures. When I woke up I was in a rage. In order to put me to sleep, they used calming materia, nailed me in the coffin downstairs, and left me for dead. His experimenting gave me this arm, and he stopped me from aging. I was in that coffin for twenty-four years, and then Cloud woke me. Lucrecia gave birth to Sephiroth, whom Hojo had experimented on. Thus it is her fault you are living, it's her fault you have geostigma. I still loved her, even after she had betrayed me. That is why I didn't want to tell you, because it is inversely my fault." Vincent explained, still standing at the edge of the stairs. "I'm sorry." He said softly, now really regretting their previous conversation. He knew she was emotional, especially with the geostigma confusing her, and causing her pain. It wasn't her fault she over reacted like she did.

Destiny had nothing to answer to. His apology was enough for her to forgive him, but not enough to take back the words he had said to her.

"Dest…" He started, walking up behind her, brushing against her back. "Don't leave."

Destiny turned around, her blue eyes looking up to his red ones. "It's not your fault, for things that others do; it was her fault, and Dr.Hojo's fault for what they did."

His arms curled around her, "I'm sorry, and I do care about you." He whispered, his right hand stroking the back of her head softly.

"I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have yelled, they are your memories." Destiny responded.

"You need rest. It is starting to spread on you." Vincent spoke, his right hand trailing up her neck to her chin, causing her to draw back in pain. "Give me the book." Vincent instructed "I'm putting you to bed myself."

After he took the book from her, his right arm moved from her back to under her knees as he knelt to pick her up, and then pressing her against him, he walked up the stairs to her bed. To this, Destiny gave no movements, she was too tired to fight back, and too much in pain to.

_Journal Entry Resumed_

They had arrived at Cosmo Canyon two hours later, both a little dusted up from their random encounters.

"I'm quite surprised at your skill level. I didn't think you would take to your weapon so quickly." Vincent said, as his steps brought him closer to the city.

"Thank you for all of your help." Destiny responded, not wanting to give him eye contact.

"I'm sure Cloud will be more helpful to you when we get to Midgar. I'm just helping you get there." Vincent answered.

Silence encompassed them once more, Destiny still not wanting to really talk to him ever since her encounter with the voices in her head. She was still confused about them, and what they meant. Why were people talking to her?

"Here." Vincent said, holding out a closed fist. "This is for you. Get a room for the night, and I will see you in the morning."

"You're not coming with me?" Destiny asked as he put Gil into her hand

"I don't require sleep. I will see you in the morning." Vincent answered.

"Please don't leave me here. I don't want to go to Midgar alone…" Destiny said softly.

"You're as trusting as I am. I promised you I would take care of you and get you to Midgar, did I not? I am not leaving you here. I have to see an old friend who lives here while we are visiting. You need rest." Vincent explained. "I will take you to the Inn, and then see you in the morning."

He began to walk up the path that led towards the top of the cliff; she followed behind him as always, not saying a word. He wasn't exactly a teddy bear, and his overall appearance made her shiver sometimes. When she saw his red eyes, she saw anger, and guilt shrouding him. She knew she pitied him, but feared him enough not to say a word.

"Is something wrong?" Vincent asked, sensing the uneasiness in her heart.

"Nothing," Destiny responded.

"Very well," He said, walking in through the door way to the Inn. "Destiny, if you need to talk, you can always ask me to listen. I understand your feelings."

"Thank you, Vincent I'll remember that." Destiny whispered.

"Get some rest, I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight." Vincent said, walking away from her, to leave her to sleep.

Destiny couldn't sleep; it was far too cold for her to sleep. She wrapped herself up in the blanket that dressed the bed she lay on, and walked down the canyon steps to a large fire that never seemed to go out. She sat herself down in front of the warm flames, feeling their dance on her figure. It took her time, but she had finally noticed a figure there behind her, and she turned around, only to be eye-to-eye with a red wolf. She had seen it before in Shin-ra labs, it only startled her a little, causing to her gasp.

"I am terribly sorry." Red XIII said, offering his paw shake, as an apology.

"Oh no… I, I shouldn't have wondered down here without permission." Destiny stuttered, already collecting herself to leave.

"I ask you, please don't leave. I like to meet new people. Although, I do not believe we are strangers. Is this assumption correct?" Red XIII asked.

"Yes, I saw you in Shin-ra labs. You were taken in the day I had skinned my knee. I remember you were sad," Destiny answered.

"I remember you crying. It is good to meet you face-to-face. My name is Red XIII. Vincent has told me you are an acquaintance of his; I believe your name is Destiny," He informed.

"Yes, that is my name. It is nice to meet you at a more personal level than just through a glass wall," Destiny

"Vincent tells me that you are a clone of Sephiroth," Red XIII said, shaking his head as he did so.

"I am, I wish I could say that I wasn't," Destiny answered, her head lowering a bit. "I am sorry for whatever it was that Sephiroth and Hojo did to you. I want you to know that I am here with no intent to harm you, or Vincent." Destiny apologized.

"Oh no, I don't think that at all! You and Sephiroth are completely different people. I too was labeled as a monster. Please my dear lady; do not feel as though you owe me something. If anything, all I want is friendship from you, if you are willing to be friends with me," Red XIII replied softy.

"I would enjoy being friends with you very much, Red XIII." Destiny responded happily, offering her hand in exchange for his paw.

Red XIII extended his paw, and they shook, the tension in both their hearts lifting. Red XIII could understand her pain, and vice-versa. That entire night, for what Destiny could remember, they talked for long hours about the stars and the earth, and how they both found it appropriate the actions the planet had taken. They had talked so late into the night, that they had both fallen fast asleep near the fire until morning had come, and Destiny felt Vincent's cold hand on her shoulder and it woke her so suddenly, it caused Vincent to smirk a bit.

_Journal Entry Pause, long interlude _

Vincent hadn't been home long since his last trip to Midgar. Destiny never went with him because of how long the trip was. Destiny was waiting for Vincent where she always was: the basement, where she continued to write her chronicles. She embraced him after he made his way through the hall. He rarely had much response back, other than a hand to her shoulder, or a caress to her head. This time though, both of Vincent's arms had made their way around her, and as they tightened they pulled her towards him so close she could feel his heart beating against his chest at high speeds. Whatever the reason was for his sudden embrace, she didn't care; regardless if it was good or bad.

However, curiosity took over, and regardless if the hug would end or not, she had to know, "Vincent, what's wrong?"

His response did not come, but his arms only brought her closer. Two years of being with her had changed him. He talked more often, showed more care towards others, and actually _enjoyed_ company. However, something had happened that day that had disturbed him. Though he didn't love Destiny, he cared about her. He still did not respond, and his chin lowered itself onto the top of her head.

"Vincent?" She only questioned again.

He didn't want to answer, even though he knew she deserved one. Destiny not only broke his cold shell, she implanted care into his soul. This care was what could not take his arms from her, or allow his mouth to speak.

She could feel her sadness spreading again, her heart aching because of Jenova cells. Vincent's crushing embrace didn't help her pain, and when he didn't let go she let out a small painful whimper. To this he reacted immediately, and his embrace stopped, but his arms did not leave her body, and his head did not move from the top of hers.

"Something happened today, Destiny." Vincent started, his right arm rubbing her back softly.

His silence had driven a perk of curiosity into her brain, slowly the thoughts cooked in her head. What could have happened that it shut Vincent up so? Did something so terrible happen that it shook even his heart? Whatever it was, Vincent's quiet response shook her to the core. If it was so bad that he couldn't speak of it, should she know in the first place?

She noted that his visage was unusually cold, though Vincent was pretty much a rock when it came to feelings anyway; she had known when something was wrong. What could it be?

Words couldn't begin to portray the feeling that had suddenly emerged from the depths of his mind. Her words did reach him, but the shock of what was coming had intertwined with his mind. He was playing a scenario in his head over and over. A kid that young had died of Geostigma... and Destiny was far older than the child. Was her time close? Was he going to lose her? He was going to turn into a demon again if it happened. Not one person could avoid his wrath if she passed away from this disease.

He glanced over to her slowly and spoke in a soft tone. "I watched someone die... today."

A chill veiled over her, and at first she had a slight clue as to what this death came from, but she didn't want to jump to conclusions, because conclusion jumping, was what started most of their arguments.

"Who ever it was Vincent, don't worry about it. I'm here for you." She said softly, trying to mask the element of fear in her voice.

Her words sank into him as if it was a knife driving into his chest. _I'm here for you._ It echoed as the same scene repeated into his head where she would die in his arms from the epidemic that couldn't be cured by researchers. He simply looked to her with those eyes that would scare most people but her. Should he start closing himself up now?

"No. I'm not okay. I watched a child die today. He died of geostigma." He would hold her in his arms. He didn't want her to share the same fate as the child, regardless of how futile it was at this point.

"Cheer up, Vincent." "Even if I do die, you made all of those years of hell, a numbing feeling that I barely remember." Destiny paused for a brief moment. She wanted to cry, but to do that would cause the black hole in the room to grow further. "Just, remember that, and know that when I die, I will be with the planet, and in that case, I will still be here, you will walk on me, breath me in, and share life that my life stream inside gives." "You will never truly be alone, because I will always be here." Was she crazy to even attempt to try to fool not only him, but her into thinking that she was okay with dying? She didn't want to die, even with the disease she was happier than she had ever been in her entire life, she didn't want that to end now.

"Don't talk about it right now. Don't think about trying to give me positive thoughts. Reasoning will make me think that way after you have died." His response had came out cooler than he wanted it to. Again his arms had wrapped around her, knowing she was fooling both of them. "You never were good at lying anyways." He said with a slight smirk.

"Vincent, don't feel that way. Don't give up on something because you feel hopelessness." She took a breath, in hopes that he would listen to her for once. She broke away from his embrace to face him. "You never know what could happen. One day we will all die. No one can live forever, not even you." She had said this, forgetting for a split second what Hojo had done. "Regardless of how experimental your body is." "Look at my arm, I was produced not to fail as an experiment, yet I have." Her warm hand caressed the bottom of his cold chin, and her eyes looked over him reassuringly. "Don't close yourself again. As I have said to you many times, it is not your fault for what others do."

Had she truly forgotten how old Vincent was? He didn't age one bit after he had been awakened by the spiky haired Cloud. He simply looked around rather quickly and then just looked down at her. "I can't tell you how I feel. Nor can I explain my behavior most of the time. But closing me off was always something I was good at." His eyes would lock with hers as he spoke. "I try to desperately cling onto whatever humanity I have left. I struggled to what wins in my mind." Vincent paused, wondering if he should go on. "If I lose you, I lose the war." He admitted reluctantly.

Her smile faded, he was right. Her hand swept over his skin softly.

"I won't die, Vincent. I am stronger than I look. Perhaps the child gave up on living, and giving up is something I don't do. People die due to the loss of will."

She put her arms around the back of his neck, attempting to pull herself towards him, but she couldn't do it, she was far too weak.

"I want to hug you, but I can't pull myself towards you... could you help?" Could she really hold on to life? Or would the geostigma take her life from him?

"Don't cry Vincent..." She whispered softly, only she was telling herself not to, but the tears formed in protest. She had to be strong, even if it meant masking her feelings from him forever. He simply pulled her close up to his body obeying her request. Only till she was truly gone, he would shed that fateful tear. He simply stroked her hair with that gentle hand that no one else would ever feel. She had done the impossible. She had broken Vincent Valentine, and he knew it.

_Journal Entry Resumed_

It had seemed only a few hours that she was able to sleep before Vincent had decided to wake her up. They had left the small village before the afternoon had begun, but the sun was still so hot she felt like she was going to bake under its bright gaze. She could literally feel the waves of heat slapping her skin and turning her into golden brown.

"I suppose you're not used to traveling?" Vincent asked lightly

"No. I only traveled a few days before I reached your residence." Destiny responded.

"You'll get used to it in time. We're two days away from The Gold Saucer, so you'll have to be strong until we reach there." Vincent said.

"Okay. I'm a little tired, but I think I'll manage." Destiny responded, wiping her forehead with her sleeve.

"Tell me if you have to stop. We can rest when you feel like you can't go on." Vincent explained

"Thank you." Destiny said softly, following behind him as they advanced north east towards the Gold Saucer, whatever that was.

For a good forty-five minutes they walked in silence coming into battles and going out of battles. Neither had much to say, especially Vincent, who never had much to say anyways. Destiny wanted to get into some kind of conversation, any would do.

"Vincent…" she started, walking closer to him. He looked over his shoulder and gave her acknowledgement.

"Yes?" Vincent asked turning his attention away once more to the path they were walking. He was very familiar with the land, and he knew how to get around most of Jacel.

"What is the Gold Saucer?" Destiny asked, now looking feeling like a child for asking.

"….I had forgotten you weren't familiar with Jacel. The Gold Saucer is an amusement park. They have rides, shows, and a lot of other things. I went there with Cloud when I joined their group." Vincent responded

"Oh." Destiny responded, not really knowing much of what he meant.

"I'll show you when we get there, I'm sure you'll like it. They have fireworks, and a carousel you can ride. It's quite beautiful." Vincent continued, not realizing till that moment how much he really did like the Gold Saucer.

Destiny didn't know what a carousel was, but she did know what fireworks were. She had watched them from her room when Shin-ra celebrated the anniversary of their company. If there were fireworks involved, she would most likely enjoy the Gold Saucer.

It seemed the ice between them had vanished; perhaps a night's sleep and the company of a friend eased the tension. Whatever it was, Destiny was glad that the ice had broken, and it seemed that Vincent was just as relieved as she was. He seemed more relaxed the next few hours of their walking. That is, until the random encounter that was about to have them fight.

An Armored Golem came out of nowhere and proceeded to attack them, almost instantly Vincent thought of Destiny, she was a very low leveled person.

"Destiny, you're going to have to run, you can't handle this battle." Vincent said hurriedly

"I can use healing spells!" Destiny said quickly

"No! Run!" Vincent shouted as he dodged an attack from the Golem's fist.

Destiny tried as hard as she could to run away, but before she could get away, the Golem grabbed her waist, bringing her towards his mouth. The grip alone was enough to send her into a jolt of pain. The Golem threw her town to the ground once Vincent Shot at the monster's hands. Poor Destiny didn't know how to take the abuse. The last attack to her body was too much, and the next time she woke up, she was wrapped in Vincent's red cape. The sound of water filled her ears, the sound of a river flowing gently through her ears. It was enough to wake her up, along with the fire that crackled near her. Her eyes opened slowly, and she let out a groan that frightened her a little. She had been out of her senses for a while, so reuniting with them was a hard task to do, especially because pain was stinging her more each time she came into a more stabilized consciousness.

"Are you okay?" Vincent asked once he realized she was awake.

"I'm in so much pain…" Destiny whined.

"I bet you are. He threw you down terribly hard. Hold still, I'm going to heal you. Where exactly does it hurt?" Vincent asked, moving towards her.

"My rib cage hurts the most, and my neck and shoulders hurt a little bit." Destiny answered.

"Can you move at all?" Vincent asked.

"No, I think my arms are dislocated." Destiny said again, attempting to use one of them.

"Hold still I don't want to heal you partially." Vincent said, putting his right hand on her sides. He hadn't felt the curves of a woman before since he was a teenager. Yet he blushed inside like a seven year old. He couldn't deny that as a man he was craving the touch of a woman, but as Vincent Valentine, he was craving the sense of loneliness. He never wanted to be hurt again. Her frame was so small, and so beautiful. Touching her was like re-gaining the sense of a man. If he could do more, he wouldn't have complained.

"Vincent, I don't think your materia is working, I still feel pain." Destiny chimed in throwing Vincent's thoughts aside. How could he be thinking about sex at a time like this? He barely knew this girl, and having desire for her was so wrong in his head.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't concentrating." Vincent said, this time allowing the materia to do its work.

"Feel any better now?" He asked, removing his hand from her warmth.

"Yes, much better. Thank you. Where are we now?" Destiny asked

"A few hours away from the Gold Saucer, if we walk non-stop from morning until afternoon we should be there before nightfall. I promise when we get there, I will take you out to the carousel." Vincent said.

"Really you promise?" Destiny asked, very excitedly.

"Yeah, and I'll take you to watch the chocobo races." Vincent said again, wondering where his enthusiasm was coming from. He couldn't honestly be smitten with her could he? He knew one thing that he wasn't, or ever would be. Vincent had sworn he would never fall in love after his betrayal from Lucrecia. So why had Destiny impacted him so hard? He turned to tell her more about the Gold Saucer and everything to offer, but she was already asleep. Since talking would be no good, he rested his back on the ground, a small ways from her. Perhaps he could sleep tonight. Monsters rarely plagued victims when they were near water.

_End of Entry_

_An almost brief Interlude (whatever that means)_

Vincent was light on sleeping that night. He had been ever since he had seen the child in Midgar die. He would often read the journal that Destiny kept, reminiscing over their journey to Midgar, and most likely the ones that would follow. He still didn't know why she was writing them. Maybe she wanted someone to hear her story? Maybe she was writing it for him to remember? His questions were stopped by the sound of music. Destiny was playing that old piano again.

He followed the notes hypnotically, knowing that when he reached the end of them, he would reach her face. He had never heard the sad music that Destiny was playing. Usually he heard sweet songs that you lift you to another place, but tonight it was dark. He entered the stained-glass room where Destiny was playing the piano. His presence did not stir her; she didn't even bother to look at him. She just played on and on, her hair bright and vibrant in the night's moon.

Once she had finished her song, she spoke without looking up to Vincent, which to him was very odd. ""I always thought when I was a little girl, that I was just like everyone else, and that one day I would one day be set free, gain parents, friends, love, all that stuff." Destiny's eyes remained glues to the yellow keys below her. "Then I got older and the dream faded, and I realized that I was doomed to be an experiment behind glass forever." She paused, as her hand clutched around her white night dress. "After I broke out once sister ray exploded, and I thought I could start over"

"Instead, Cloud killed Sephiroth, and I gained this disease causing me to die slowly and painfully. I never had friends, family, or anything until I met you. Knowing that you opened me to a world of happiness, saddens me for it to be taken away, I suppose the reason I am talking is to thank you." Destiny hardly spoke so darkly, for her this was a new thing, but she was almost convinced she was going to die.

Hearing her words made him think quietly to himself. He would lean against the doorway while speaking.

"No need to thank to which is given freely and out of friendship and love. I'm glad to of known that I could bring something to you. I've never given that to anyone before." He would continue speaking without moving towards her. "I haven't had many friends because I feel I am destined to be alone one day. When that day comes I will always remember those who have willingly put their lives on the line for me, who have shared hardships with me and have loved me". Those last few words were spoken softly as he looked at her. "And I have returned those feelings to everyone except you." He would slowly walk over to her speaking. "Whether you die or I die, one thing will remain from our memories. And I want you to know that I loved you equally and more as you did me. I am sorry I didn't return these feelings to you before." Vincent finished

Destiny was shocked. She had wanted these words from him for so long. Why did he wait until now to say them? Should she return the words? He knew he didn't like using the phrase 'I love you'. However, what he said was enough for her to be content with dying. Tears formed in her eyes, which she hated, she _hated_ crying.

"Vincent…" she trailed off, suddenly feeling pain erupt in her body. She would tell him, no matter how badly it felt to feel joy. She let out a sharp cry, the geostigma glowing brightly on her skin. Vincent had thrown his arms around her gently, immediately pulling her to his body.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to cause pain to you." Vincent said, caressing her back with his fingertips.

"It would have been greater pain had you never told me. I want to tell you something" She said with hissing in her voice, and a cry in her tone.

"It can wait until morning." Vincent said.

"No it can't, I want to tell you…"Destiny choked from the pain, causing her to cry like a three year old.

"Your actions have already told me. I know you do." Vincent said, scooping her up into his arms. "We're going to bed. I don't want you up late anymore. From now on, you come and get me when you can't sleep. I don't want you doing this to yourself anymore." Vincent commanded, and carried her off.


	4. Chapter 4

_This chapter kind of didn't go according to plan…. I've been editing it for a while now, but I still came to a story I didn't like…. Okay, anyways, here is chapter four. As I have said several times, this story is a work in progress, and I appreciate everyone who is even involved with this story. Thanks to all the quiet and sounding fans of my work. This one is for you._

_Also, again should you disagree with something; I am open to good and bad reviews. However if you make a bad review be nice about it. I will also answer any and all questions you may have about this story. Lastly, there will be a chapter 5 to this story even though this looks like the end, it really isn't._

Journal Entry 4

By that evening they had reached the Gold Saucer. Destiny could hardly believe the colors and lights involved in it. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life. The entrance alone was something to be amazed with. Who thought of a giant cat to welcome customers? It was brilliant! Her whole life she had never seen anything that sparkled as much as the Gold Saucer did. All of those years being used as a pin cushion, and a lab rat, and the only thing she had ever seen that was even remotely near beautiful were test tubes filled with glittering liquids. This night had changed all the things she had seen now. What else was like this in the world? The only problem with the evening was that she was so tired she couldn't fully enjoy the surroundings.

Though he realized this, Vincent insisted she enjoy the evening, and so he persuaded her to take a ride on the carousel. Secretly he had wanted to take the ride himself, and couldn't leave her all alone. Her sleepiness left her once they sat across from each other while Destiny took in the explosion of gun powder that lit up like tiny, colored fireflies.

"What are you going to do after you get home?" Destiny asked, still watching the explosions of light.

"I'll stay there and read." Vincent answered "Wait for someone to need me."

Destiny frowned at his response, "That doesn't sound too great…"

"Well, there is only so much you can do by yourself." Vincent responded.

"Then why not live with a friend?" Destiny asked.

"I don't really live with people…." Vincent said lowly, trying to avoid this conversation.

"Do you mind me asking why?" Destiny asked.

"Let's just say I have trust issues." Vincent answered.

"Then why did you help me?" Destiny asked.

"Because I was once like you, I was once used for an experiment. I know your pain and want to help you before you lose yourself the way I did." Vincent answered

"But why exactly are you helping me?" Destiny asked

"I have sins to repay." Vincent answered.

Destiny had dropped the conversation after that, and instead asked about Midel. Which Vincent had told her was a very large place. He himself had only traveled half of what Midel really was. After she had changed their previous conversation, things had become brighter, and she enjoyed herself more with passing time.

Vincent had even shown her the arcade, and the fighting arena. He had taken her to see the show in the atrium, and introduced her to freedom. Vincent had done so much in only five days, but nothing had impacted her the way that tonight did. She could recall only how happy she was to see something without being in a prison cell. That night she realized that she was truly free from Shin-ra. As long as Vincent was around, she had no reason to fear. Vincent had smiled at her, and seemed to be enjoying the evening away from random encounters and walking.

"Do you remember me talking about Chocobo racing?" Vincent asked, causing Destiny to turn her attention away from the display of light on the stage.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Destiny responded.

"I want to take you to a race. Have you seen a chocobo before?" Vincent asked

"No, I've only heard of them, but I know they are big birds you can ride." Destiny said

Vincent was excited to show someone who knew nothing of life a thing or two, just as Cloud and the others had done for him, and it brought him some kind of happiness, even though he masked his excitement. He knew that on the inside his sins were lifting one by one.

He kept her close, incase Shin-ra had decided to pop out of nowhere. Though each time he had thought he had seen Shinra officials, he did not. His senses were confused through all the lights, colors and sounds, and even though he was joyful, his concerns for her took precedence.

Expecting a few people to be quite upset, he heard the shouts of men and women alike complaining about the Chocobo that broke its leg. All the insults and yelling threw someone very familiar into Vincent's mind. In fact, the sounds and yelling were all too familiar. There was only one man that could curse like a sailor and be elegant about it at the same time, and that man was Cid Highwind. He took Destiny by the hand and led her through the crowd to a blonde man shouting at the register.

"What do you mean I lost?" A man shouted.

"Sir, please calm down, it's only a race." A lady said back to him.

"This here ain't just a &$# race, girlie!" The man shouted back.

"Sir, please just calm down." The lady responded

"No! That race was fixed! F.I.X.E.D Can you spell? Do you understand?" The man shouted.

Vincent approached the voice, quite certain that the man shouting was his friend, Cid. The closer he got, the more he thought of Cid and how he looked up to him as a man and a friend. Cid was the only person who Vincent didn't talk riddles to. Cid was the only one had even tried to make decent conversations with him. Cid was also his role model in some situations. That old pilot was always getting into trouble somewhere. As he crossed the room, the closer he got the more he realized that he had really missed all those who had befriended him. There was always a good feeling he got when he was around all the friends who had help free him. Suddenly, the crowd became too much and his eyes had lost his target. Vincent looked a little perplexed and disappointed once the register came into view and Cid was not there.

"What's wrong Vincent?" Destiny asked when she saw his face

"Nothing," Vincent answered shortly.

"You're a damn liar, now aren't you?" Cid asked from behind him.

Vincent was surprised as ever when he heard Cid's voice, and he turned around. "I thought I sensed you somewhere old man." Vincent said.

"Old….#$ #$!" Cid exclaimed. Vincent let out a grin as a response.

Destiny had never seen Vincent this way before. Why was he acting so light hearted? Perhaps this place was a place that held memories? These were things she didn't understand. Where was the stone cold man who had told her to be on guard?

"Who's the pretty girl you got there?" Cid asked, poking his head past Vincent.

"This," Vincent started, and pulled Destiny to face Cid. "This is Destiny; she's a girl who escaped Shin-ra labs. I'm taking her to see Cloud. We can talk about that later though, when there aren't so many people around." Vincent said

"Well I'll be. You got yourself a girl there, didn't ya? You know, the whole time all of us thought you weren't into girls. Glad to see we were wrong after all." Cid laughed, causing Vincent to blush.

"What? You all thought that?" Vincent asked in disbelief.

"Actually, Yuffie came up with the idea. I mean a kid living in the basement of an old mansion and swearing off all kinds of affection from women, has to be a little bit into guys, you know?" Cid responded patting Vincent's back with a laugh.

"I didn't know I came across that way… that wasn't my intention at all," Vincent answered.

"Well gay or not I'm going to Midgar tomorrow; my airship is just outside if you want me to take you for a ride." Cid offered

Whoever this Cid person was, Destiny liked him a lot. Vincent seemed to be comfortable around him, he seemed very carefree. She wanted to know this Vincent just like everyone else did.

"I'll take you up on that offer. I don't think walking is sounding much fun to either of us." Vincent responded, and gave Destiny a look, before ushering her close to him. "We need to go now!" He suddenly muttered to Cid, his head motioning towards a dark skinned Turk making his way towards them. He was about 6 feet tall and could run pretty fast for wading through a crowd. He scowled at them as they ran from his swift movements.

"Awe , when did Shinra get back into the picture?" Cid asked.

"Since they lost an experiment, and gained two." Vincent answered, pulling Destiny behind him "Hold on, we're about to fly." Vincent warned Destiny as they approached a window.

"Say what?" Cid asked in disbelief.

"I'm rather confident I can pull it off…" Vincent answered

"The $& you are! Give me the girl, I promise I won't let ya down. I hate those &#$ Shinra too!" Cid demanded

"I'll meet you in the hotel…" Vincent said, before taking off like a bat out the window, his huge red cape making him look like a large winged creature.

"Let's go, girlie! You ever had a piggy-back ride?" Cid asked quickly, watching the Turk fire out the window, as he disappeared into the screaming crowd.

"What is that?" Destiny asked in confusion  
"Hop on my back and hold on real tight now." Cid answered and kneeled down for her. After she jumped onto his back, and gripped her shoulders, he took off with amazing speed. She wasn't too sure how old Cid was, but he was definitely in shape.

"Don't let go for nothing'!" Cid yelled, as he took out a retractable spear.

By this time the Turk had seen Cid running around the corner, and saw Destiny on his back, and now he ran after them without giving Vincent another thought. His gun extended, he shot rapidly, hoping to get Cid in the leg or arm, but he missed several times.

Neither Cid nor the Turk could fight the crowd; the volume of people was astonishing. Their cries and hysterics weren't helping either party get to their goal. Cid and Vincent both threw themselves through tunnel after tunnel, hoping to get rid of the Turk, but the man proved to be good at following targets. The only way to get rid of him was to fight him. The only way to go was to re-group, and once at the hotel, all three of the party members faced the Turk for a fight.

It took Destiny a little time to get her staff to extend, but once she did she was prepared to fight for herself, even if the end result was death.

"Give up; I am required to shoot if you do not comply!" The man yelled with fire behind his voice. It was the same man who got away from the mansion earlier that week. Vincent had known the man possessed more than science skills alone.

"&$# you! If you want this girl you're going through both of us!" Cid yelled

"Don't take me lightly either." Destiny warned

"Very well then, you asked to be killed." The Turk responded

"Who do you think you are?" Cid asked, throwing himself with his lance at the Turk.

"I know who I am, and I am Cedric Hallows. Don't think I'm going to just allow you to get away with killing my two friends and stealing our experiment." Cedric retorted.

"Leave her alone!" Vincent shouted firing a shot that barely nicked Cedric in the arm, which caused Cedric to miss his shot at Cid.

"Convince me…" Cedric responded darkly, hitting Vincent's metallic claw.

"No need to, get out of our way!" Vincent shouted.

"Forget it!" Cedric yelled, and fired a shot at Destiny that she was too slow to dodge; luckily Cid had taken the hit in the arm for her, allowing her to stay in the fight.

"Thanks…" Destiny said softly. She would stay focused and use healing when told to do so. If she put her neck on the line, she was in trouble.

Cedric would attack her anyways; eventually Cid's cover materia would miss one of his hits.

"You know, there is a funny thing about cover materia." Cedric started

"What's that you #&#$ &#?" Cid asked

"You can only protect one person at a time…" Cedric answered with a wry smile, and he fired at Vincent rapidly, causing Cid to automatically be pulled to Vincent's front, having to take all the damage himself. This left Destiny open, and Cedric jumped at the chance to grab her and run off. He came around with his arm extended ready to scoop her up into his arms.

Destiny shouted, and knocked him in the cheek with the end of her staff before her could touch her.

Cedric scowled, and while at her feet took out his second weapon from his boot, and threw himself upwards so he could face her eye to eye before he attacked her. His movement had caught her off guard and before she realized it, the tip of his dagger cut her deep enough to give her a permanent scar. This attack caused Destiny to cry out, and she clenched her right arm in pain. Luckily, before Cedric could administer another attack Cid had come back just in time to smack him on the top of his black head. This blow was enough to cause the tall skinny Turk to fall to the floor in pain.

"Ouch Cid, that looked like it hurt." Vincent said from above Cedric who was still conscious.

"Good! I hope it hurt you piece of $&." Cid exclaimed, kicking Cedric's side.

Vincent put his metallic boot on Cedric's back and pushed down a bit harder than he intended. Then with a harsh and commanding tone he spoke to the boy below him. "Listen to me. Stop pursuing us."

Cedric said nothing in return, so Vincent pressed harder on his back, and caused Cedric to drop the dagger he was holding. Thinking it was safe when Cedric closed his eyes, Vincent let up on his hold. Not waiting a second, Cedric fled from their battle, leaving his dagger and a puddle of purple liquid behind.

"What the hell is that?" Cid asked, closing in on the puddle for closer inspection.

"It looks like some sort of poison or…" Vincent stopped and examined the knife. Apparently it had been soaking in the liquid; perhaps the remainder of the poison left in the dagger's holder had spilt out when Cedric had fallen.

"Clever." Vincent stated, before he questioned the blood.

"Vincent…" Cid's voice was trailing off. Destiny had no idea how long she had been lying on the floor before she started to feel numb, and then started loosing consciousness, but however long it was it was too long for her.

The next time she woke up, she saw an infirmary ward ceiling. Where was she? She was dazed and confused, and a numb. Was she in Shin-ra? Had Vincent and Cid lost after Cedric attacked her? Fear pushed her heart and soon it began beating against her chest. She hadn't felt the lack of undergarments as she sat up in the bed that held her. All she was left with wearing was the white shirt that Vincent had given her. She stood, the shirt stopping at her knees. What happened? She shuffled across the cold metal floor, looking like a drugged zombie.

Destiny grabbed a needle that was left at her bed side table to use as a weapon. If she was going to be in Shin-ra labs, she was going to wound anyone who tried to stop her from escaping. She exited the room into a large open metallic area. The large atrium sized place had spinning fans, cold floors, and noises that made her head pound in disorientation. She walked around a large metal bridge to a room with windows. All at once, her body had gone numb; she couldn't feel anything, not the floor below her, or the needle in her hands. She became dizzy almost instantly and fell to the floor, dropping the needle once she hit.

"Destiny what are you doing?" Vincent shouted in alarm as he raced behind her.

Destiny looked to him with her dazed and confused look, until it registered in her mind that it was Vincent.

"Vincent, you're alive!" Destiny shouted in excitement. "I'm not at Shin-ra!" She continued.

"You're half-way necked!" Vincent exclaimed, pulling her to him quickly to cover her. He was even embarrassed at the fact he had seen more than he expected to.

"What's with all the #$ yelling?" Cid asked in anger.

"Destiny is awake…" Vincent started.

"Oh, well that's good! How are you?" Cid asked, noticing that Vincent had been covering her up with his red cape. "What in the damn hell are you doing?" Cid asked, giving Vincent an odd look.

"She's not dressed." Vincent responded

"Well why the #$ is she not dressed? Wait a minute… Hey! If you're going to rock an airship, it better not be mine!" Cid exclaimed.

"Cid, calm down! She didn't know where she was, I found her like this." Vincent explained.

"I see. Well get her dressed. We'll be at Midgar shortly.

"What were you thinking?" Vincent asked a little annoyed.

"I thought I was back at Shin-ra, I was going to get out. I even brought this needle as a weapon." Destiny said, pointing to the object on the floor.

"I see." Vincent paused, and before consulting his next words he spoke without thought. "What did I tell you? I wasn't going to let anything happen to you. Listen, once we get to Midgar, I'll be taking you to Cloud and that is where we part ways." Vincent said, holding her in his cape as they walked back to the infirmary.

"Why are we parting ways?" Destiny asked

"Cloud will be able to help you much more than I could. He too has geostigma. He knows about Sephiroth, Shin-ra, and Jenova more than I do." Vincent said, giving her a reassuring look.

But Cloud did not help; in fact Cloud was the opposite of helpful. Perhaps maybe Vincent should have thought it through before he decided to bring Cloud a girl who looked like Sephiroth's twin sister. However, he wanted to help Destiny, and Cloud was the only one who truly understood Sephiroth.

_A small pause for the ones we **love**_

This is me, for forever… oh how I wish, for soothing rain. All I wish is to dream again, my heart is lost in the dark. For hope I'd give everything.

For hope she would give anything. Hope was something that she had once had when he was around. It had been so long since he had returned. Where was he now? Was he still in Midgar? Was he even alive? It had been three weeks since he had left. Would he ever come home? Why did he leave her in the first place? What was he doing?

Lately she had felt emptier than she had ever been before. Geostigma had taken away everything, her health, her feelings, her energy, and even Vincent. Vincent had left to find a cure. Vincent had left to save her. How could he save her when she didn't even feel alive anymore? She could feel Jenova pressing her for a reunion, and could feel Sephiroth deep inside her. After all she was _his_ clone, and no other. It felt odd knowing that she was made for someone else. She came to grips with knowing she wasn't meant to have a life of her own. Even when she was free she felt trapped. She threw her journal in sudden anger, refusing to pick it up. When it landed, she put herself into a fetal position on the window seat and sat there in anger and grief.

The pages of her journal had been made into a stew on the ground, and luckily she had numbered each page. She didn't care about picking them up, or care about ever writing in it again. What would it matter?

"Destiny…" Vincent called softly from the doorway looking defeated.

Without a word she raced towards him, she had missed him so much. He had already expected the impact and opened his arms for her. When she reached him, she nearly fell in his arms.

"I'm sorry." He said softly, and gripped her against him before they paused in an embrace.

_Entry Resumed_

He stood outside the bar that Tifa and Barrett owned, and took a deep breath. All that walking had made him tired. Even though it was late afternoon and it was getting cooler thanks to the fall, he was still sweating a bit from his heavy cloak. Cid had told them to go ahead, and soon he would meet up with them.

"I'm, going to introduce you to Cloud, and Tifa. They are both friends of mine, and I'm sure that Cloud will have something to tell you. Cloud has geostigma too, and also shares a regrettable bond with Sephiroth." Vincent explained, putting a hand on the door to push it open.

He stepped inside the dim light that ran across the bar's floor. Tifa liked it dark, and Cloud couldn't complain. It was a bar, wasn't it supposed to be dark? Vincent could tell that business was doing as well as ever, and from the looks of it, Tifa had just got done pouring her own drink and hadn't seen Destiny, who was shadowed by the darkness and Vincent's overall height. With a less than surprised smile, she greeted her friend.

"Vincent, what brings you here? I haven't seen you in a long time." Tifa greeted, pulling out a glass from below the counter. "You want anything?" Tifa asked, as the glass made a slight clink.

"Maybe later, but right now I'm looking for Cloud." Vincent answered. Destiny noted that he was much different with Tifa than he was with Cid.

"Don't you ever come to say hi anymore?" Tifa said with her hands on her hips. "You seem to grace us less and less with your visits. We said you could come anytime, so why don't you?" Tifa asked

Suddenly, Cid's voice came from the doorway, as he spilt the evening sun into the room by opening the door. He gave Tifa a wide grin and Vincent a nod, interrupting what Vincent was about to say.

"Hey, what about your old captain, don't I matter?" Cid asked, causing Tifa to smile in response.

"Of course, you do! Where have you been all these months, Cid? What is this, a reunion?" Tifa asked

"It's a long trip to get here, Tifa. We've been walking for five days now." Vincent answered

"And I met them at the Gold Saucer! They probably wouldn't have been here so quick had I not run into them. I gave them a lift here to Midgar, and since I was here, I thought I'd check on you kids." Cid explained

"Who are they? Anyone else come with you two?" Tifa asked, now stepping from behind the bar.

"Forgive me. I didn't introduce you to her..."Vincent started, and pulled Destiny from behind him. "This is Destiny; I saved her from Shin-ra about five days ago." Vincent finished.

Destiny's appearance didn't exactly make Tifa smile. It actually did the opposite. Seeing Destiny's green eyes made her frown. She looked almost exactly like Sephiroth, and Tifa knew that it was probably a bad idea for her to meet Cloud. "Are you a clone too?" Tifa asked immediately.

"I am." Destiny answered with caution, stepping backwards, bumping into Cid. The more she saw people's expressions, the more she thought that these people were going to make her into an experiment just as Shin-ra did.

"Whoa, Tifa ain't gonna hurt you." Cid said, putting his hands on Destiny's shoulders.

"Is this why you came to see Cloud?" Tifa asked, giving them both a disapproving look.

"Yes." Vincent said and after noting the look in her eyes spoke again "Is there something wrong Tifa?" Vincent asked

"I don't know if he will be too happy with this, you know how he feels about Sephiroth." Tifa answered with a little more anger in her voice.

"She ain't Sephiroth! She's just a clone, and ain't that what Cloud is too?" Cid asked, now a bit irritated.

"Yes, but unfortunately, Cloud isn't here, and he can't help. He left yesterday, and I don't know when to expect him back." Tifa lied, she knew he was upstairs, he was always upstairs wallowing in his pity.

"I'll stay until he gets back if I have to. This girl has geostigma and I think she is going to need help before it gets worse." Vincent said, now sounding more pushy than normal.

"Vincent, I don't think that he is going to be able to help. Cloud doesn't know anymore about it than anyone else does. He's still coping with the fact that he has this disease too." Tifa was Cloud's unofficial protector. Her obsession and love for him caused her to be pushy and sometimes cold. She didn't mean to hurt Destiny's feelings, but she did intend to keep Cloud happy. After all, when Cloud was upset no one was happy.

"Cloud doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would care about that." Cid piped in, growling a bit.

"Well he might, I mean look at her she looks exactly like Sephiroth." Tifa insisted

"She might as well be him." Cloud said from the stairs, causing everyone to give him their attention.

"Cloud, I..." Tifa started

"Why did you bring her here?" Cloud asked coldly, he was still new to the fact that he had geostigma. He had a kid upstairs who had geostigma. His irritation with trying to find a cure was making him very irritable. Even now he had dreams about Sephiroth and his return, and looking at Destiny was not helping his anger.

"She has a severe case of Geostigma. I thought you might be able to help…." Vincent answered

"Well I can't help her. I can't help anyone." Cloud said angrily, frustrated at his struggle with the disease. Without a work he turned from them, attempting to go back upstairs.

"Listen, I'm sorry for whatever Sephiroth did, but I'm not him, and I don't want to be like him. I want to be a good person and help too." Destiny retorted, stepping towards Cloud.

Her words had caused him to turn around at her with anger apparent on his face. "You don't know what he did?" Cloud asked with a deadly cold tone.

"No, I wasn't told anything, I didn't even know who he was. I heard his name at Shin-ra, b-"She was cut off by Cloud before she could finish.

"He killed our friend Aeris while she was trying to save the planet! He put his sword right through her back and almost made ME kill her. Do you know what it's like losing someone you love? He controlled my body, made me give him the black materia, which helped him summon meteor to kill us all. To top it off, he gave us this…" Cloud spat, showing her his arm. "Tell me why I should help someone who looks exactly like him? How do I know you're not just here to hurt me too?" Cloud shouted as he ascended the stairs.

"What in the # is wrong with you? She didn't come to start anything!" Cid yelled as Cloud disappeared up the stairs.

"You should go. Forgive Cloud he's been like this since we've gotten back to Midgar." Tifa said sympathetically.

"I see that." Vincent responded shortly. "I didn't mean to anger him; I just thought he could help her." Vincent said, turning away from Tifa.

"I'm sorry; maybe when he gets better you can visit again." Tifa responded

Vincent didn't say a word as he exited the room, Cid giving her a look before he turned from her. "Tell Cloud we'll come and see him when he's found peace." This left Destiny by herself to look in Tifa's cold brown eyes.

She didn't know what to say, this hadn't gone anywhere according to her plan. She just wanted so badly not to be the monster that Cloud had just described. After a few minutes of looking defeated, and with the final glare from Tifa, she left the bar, hoping Vincent was waiting for her. However he wasn't there. How could he leave her here in this city when she knew nothing? Obviously she was lost, and confused. Where would se go? Why had Vincent left?

The only idea that seemed appealing to her was to walk around in the prime of the evening and try to find somewhere to stay. With Vincent and Cid gone, she would have to fend for herself. This feeling of loneliness had not shaken her, and in fact she welcomed the fact that no one had to worry about her. She walked towards the setting sun, hoping she would find something to do with her life.

Elsewhere however, there were two men who had just realized that their anger had lost something. How could they have forgotten about her? Vincent promised he would keep her safe. His mind was so heavy on the fact that Cloud had just been an ass that he had forgotten her out of anger. He swore he would never commit another sin and breaking a promise was a sin to him, and whatever he had to do he would get Destiny back.


	5. Chapter 5

_Welcome back! (Assuming anyone reads this fiction). This is chapter five, and still not the conclusion of this story. I think chapter six will be, but I can't say for sure. At any rate, as I have said I am making this a series. Two more tales to go through, but for now we're going to stick with this one. This chapter is also a bit darker than the others, and should be taken as seriously as possible. However, I too enjoy humor and fun, so from time to time I will place in some fun stuff too for your enjoyment, because no one likes to read gloomy stuff that makes you sad._

_Also, one last note, I do use real swearing in this chapter however, it is only just a bit and ask that if you are sensitive to swearing, do not read some parts of this chapter. Okay, that's all, please enjoy!_

_Am I talking to anyone? Hello?_

Journal Entry 5

_Who will go down to the shady groves, and summon the shadows there?_

_The last that ever she saw him was carried away by a moonlight shadow…_

The sun was setting quickly behind Destiny, and as the darkness settled around her, she became uncomfortable with being alone. Sure, it was great that no one had to take care of her, but how was she going to survive in a place like Midgar, the home to Shin-ra?

Destiny put her hands deep into her pockets, fishing out a small satin red bag Vincent had given her after they left the airship. Had he really intended to leave her like this? She couldn't help but feel abandoned, regardless that she had only known Vincent for almost a week. She still felt left behind, and more importantly she was scared.

She was going to have to get herself straight. If she was going to have to fend for herself, she would have to be brave. At least Vincent had taught her how to fight a bit, so maybe if someone tried to hurt her she could fight them off. Destiny sighed; she didn't know what she was going to do. She had 1000 Gil in her little satin back, and maybe that would buy her a room for a while. She wasn't good at math, or reading… or really anything. Shin-ra had taught her nothing but how to harness the dark powers that she could never seem to grip. This was why she was a failed experiment.

Destiny paused; she hadn't realized her last thought until she had to think about it. Where had that thought come from? She hadn't remembered anything since she was 19. Why was it that now all of the sudden, she was remembering things like that? Did she have some dark abilities like Sephiroth and Jenova? Did she have any talents? Now that she thought about it, the only thing she could ever remember from her child hood was a small stuffed rabbit and a man with long black hair. Why nothing else? Seven years later she still remembered nothing from her past.

However, the real question wasn't her past. The real question was where was she going to live?

Or, if she would live at all, the chances of dying of geostigma were slim, but the chances of dying by Shin-ra weren't so favorable. That aside, she was still lost, and now it was dark, and very cold.

"How many times have I walked past this building?" Destiny wondered, now giving up on finding her way out of broken, old Midgar. She slumped down near a pile of metal rails and put her chin on her knees.

"I've only been here an hour or two and I already hate Midgar." Destiny growled, her green eyes scanning for another pathway to walk down or narrow place to explore. She had gotten here; she could get out, but how? Her thoughts soared, and each time she tried to break free from them she always went back to thoughts about Sephiroth, and who she really was.

What was it that she could remember? What was it that she needed to know? Why wouldn't she stop thinking about this?

_A brief flashback_

All she could remember was that Shin-ra mansion was the place where she was born, and most likely the place where she was experimented on. She could see it now, the old bricks, and a man who seemed to have trustworthy eyes. She was very young, she could hardly remember how old she was, but she knew she was old enough to speak, and she was old enough to know when something was wrong.

"One more thing," A man said, poking Destiny in the arm with a needle.

"Ouch!" Destiny cried, trying to pull away. "I'm tired... I want to go to bed" Destiny whined

"Now, now my dear, you must not upset Dr. Gast," The man with the pony tail next to him chided.

"Now, now Hojo, she's fine. I'm sure after a day like this you would be just as tired as she is." Gast answered, rubbing Destiny's head in the process.

"If you keep putting Jenova cells into her, she'll become too powerful for us to handle!" Hojo whispered. "She's already made up of my son; she is almost a perfect clone. Why risk losing our perfect experiment?" Sephiroth had not even been born yet, but just incase the baby would die; Hojo had a back up plan, this little girl which he valued so much.

Gast just shook his head. Even though they both thought Destiny had heard nothing, she certainly had, but she didn't understand a word they were talking about. Gast took the needle from Destiny's arm and wrapped it in a small bandage. Her entire arm was covered in small red dots and bruises from all the continuous work and studies Gast and Hojo had done on her. Destiny was tired and felt sick, all she wanted was to go to sleep.

"Dr. Hojo is going to take you to your room. You may go to sleep after Lucrecia has dressed you for bed." Gast explained, being in no mood to be friendly after the fight he and Hojo had earlier. His real plans were to leave Shin-ra Mansion before dawn with out notice.

"Yes, and she is such a _nice_ lady too, isn't she?" Hojo asked with a grim smile.

Destiny responded with nothing, but a grim nod, she did not like Lucrecia at all, but not for the way she was. She disliked her because she smelt so sweet it made her choke. She also disliked her because she was always so quiet, why did she never talk to her? That was fine though, because as long as she had her white rabbit to cuddle with, that was the only friend she needed.

_Reality zooms in once more…._

Her memory started to fuzz after that last thought. Why couldn't she remember anything? With her head still on her knees, she contemplated all possible ways that she could have lost her memory, but nothing was helping her regain more pictures in her head. Giving up on her thoughts, she turned her head towards the deep sky that winked at her with stars. Destiny stood back up and attempted to walk again, but not before something jumped out to try to fight with her.

How did she always seem to get herself into these situations? Why was danger so drawn to her?

"Give me what Gil you have, lady!" A man shouted angrily, waving a knife at her face.

"No! If you want this Gil, you'll have to fight…" Destiny was cut off by the growling of a dog behind her. She didn't turn, now too paralyzed with fear to do anything. The dog advanced past her, and wagged its long grey tail as it growled at the man confronting Destiny. The dog was a beautiful grey color, and looked like a wolf of some breed. It was no doubt that it had a large frame, and was much bigger than the average dog. Its eyes glared intensely at the man with the knife, and it showed its teeth to him while letting out another deep throated growl.

The man was no fool, and was too frightened to fight a wolf of that size, and before he even got the chance to do any harm to Destiny, he fled the area.

Destiny could hardly believe her luck, how was it that something came in such timing to save her? She gave a sigh of relief, and bent down to the dog, stretching out her arm to pet its head.

"Thanks so much." She whispered to the dog as she scratched it behind its ears.

The dog responded with a slight nod of the head, and panted happily as Destiny scratched it.

"Something feels familiar about you…" Destiny murmured softly, but before the dog let her have a good look at it, it too ran away with a happy bark before it disappeared.

"I really need to get out of here…" she groaned, now continuing her journey to get out of Midgar. Her best bet was to follow where the dog left; maybe it was a sign to follow it? Why not, though, right? I mean if it had just saved her, maybe it would lead her out of Midgar too. So trusting her best guess, she followed the dog's tracks.

_A brief interlude_

Snow settled in and swayed against Destiny's window pane, Christmas season was about to start bustling in the streets of Nibelheim. From inside the cold mansion she could hear children singing merry songs of joy and bells ringing from corners. She had fallen in love with Christmas last year when she had her first real one with Vincent, Cid, Yuffie, and Red XIII. This year it was only she and Vincent, but she welcomed loneliness, especially now that her Geostigma had spread further, and was now more apparent on her neck and arms.

She looked down to her journal, which was running low on paper. Vincent was happy about it, at least now she would stop spending so much time writing in something no one would care about. However, Destiny felt like it was useful; someone might need it one day, and why not try to salvage what memories they had?

Her thoughts were interrupted as always when Vincent walked into the door with bags in his hands, and Cid giving her a smile behind him. Cid's presence made her leap to her feet, what happened to everyone being busy?

"Cid, I thought you were busy this year!" Destiny said excitedly, walking to the door to welcome him.

"Awe hell, what makes you think that I would have missed Christmas with my favorite girl, huh?" Cid asked slyly.

Vincent had a strange look on his face, as he cleared the doorway, revealing bags in Cid's hands too.

"I'm glad you could make it. Let me have those bags…" Destiny said, reaching for Cid's hands.

"No thanks there, Vincent told me the whole story, little lady. You're not allowed to lift anything." Cid answered, which caused Destiny to send a frown towards Vincent, who had only shot her a little half smirk half smile.

"Hey, what about me I'm a lady too!" A high pitched voice piped in, and suddenly there Yuffie's head was, as it attempted to look past Cid's back.

"Why do you have to insist on being difficult?" A male voice asked behind Yuffie.

"Why are you rude, you dumb Cat?" Yuffie shouted back behind her.

Destiny didn't need to see who that was, she could tell just by the voice: Reeve had come over too.

"I'm a man under this cat you know!" Reeve shout back.

"Okay you two, that's enough. I don't want to hear yawl yammering on the whole week now." Cid growled

"Indeed. It would be far too unpleasant for me as well." Red XIII added, giving Destiny a smile afterwards to signal a warm hello.

"What happened to everyone being busy?" Destiny asked, looking at the four of them, with a questionable look on her face.

"We really weren't busy at all. It was all a ploy to surprise you, and by the looks of it, we did!" Yuffie cheered happily, and gave Destiny a pat on her shoulders.

"Besides, do you really think we'd waist a chance to make Vincent miserable with other people's presences?" Cid asked, giving a grin

"What, do you really think that?" Vincent asked, giving a frown.

"You weren't exactly a social butterfly when we fought two years ago, now were you Vinnie boy? In fact, we thought you were gay!" Yuffie said happily with a wide grin.

"So Cid tells me…" Vincent responded lowly, with a small frown.

"…What! Cid, you promised you wouldn't tell him!" Yuffie exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips and glaring a Cid angrily. "Well I know never to trust old men…" she added.

"Why you disrespectful…. I'm not $& old!" Cid yelled.

There was a nice laugh from everyone, except Destiny who just smiled at the group. Even though she had known them for awhile, she still didn't feel apart of their team, but she loved them just as much as she would a real family. To her, they were her real family, and nothing was going to stop her from feeling that way, not even geostigma.

"Oh what's this?" Yuffie asked while pulling Destiny's leather journal from the chair she had tossed it on.

"Oh, that's…nothing. Just my diary, that's all." Destiny responded

Yuffie gave Destiny a wide grin, and her eyes sparkled with glee. "Let's read it!" Yuffie said quickly.

"Oh, oh no, it isn't finished yet. You can all read it when it's done." Destiny stammered quickly.

"Oh, you're writing a book! What are ya writing Desty?" Yuffie asked merrily.

"I too would like to know." Red XIII added, which caught him looks from the others. "What, am I not allowed to be curious?"

"No, none of ya are! What makes yawl think that you can just read someone's stuff, huh?" Cid asked, looking down at all of them.

"Cid, it's alright." Destiny said nervously. "It's just memories of when I met you all." Destiny responded.

"Oh, well tell me when it's finished, I want to read it!" Yuffie exclaimed.

Destiny smiled and looked around at her makeshift family; this was going to be a great Christmas.

_Entry resumed_

This was getting old; she was lost, hungry, cold, and now tired. The dog had led her far enough for one night, and now she was resting. Though the dog did not like this, and insisted that Destiny continue her journey, Destiny simply could not. She leaned her back against a cold piece of metal that was leaning against other pieces of fallen scraps. The dog was quite unhappy about this, and it whined and pouted looking up to Destiny with a stern look.

"Oh come on, I'm tired…" Destiny whined, seriously doubting she could walk anymore. It was 12 midnight, and she had been walking for near 7 hours straight. Plus, her Geostigma was acting up again and she could feel the pain arousing in her arm and neck. The dog seemed to persist further and it tugged at Destiny's pants gently.

Destiny groaned and complied with the dog, again in her mind there had to be a reason for all this madness. She stood, brushed her pants off, and followed the dog once more around the empty streets of Midgar. Walking was really getting her tired, very tired. She continued to rub her eyes and her geostigma spots for an hour or so, before her body decided it was time to give up. Destiny found herself crashing to the ground before she could do anything about it.

Her eyes closed and she prepared herself to blackout. She could feel her body sinking and her eyes heavy. Soon she felt, heard, and saw nothing.

"_Time to get up now," a girl said sweetly._

"_What?" Destiny asked, trying to move._

"_Who else is going to cheer him up? Come on…" The girl continued._

"_But I am so tired," Destiny explained._

"_That means nothing; you must hurry and wake up before you lose your opportunity!" The girl said again, this time bending down to look at her, but Destiny could see nothing, for her eyes refused to open._

"_Who are you?" Destiny asked lightly, still not able to open her eyes._

"_All you need to know is that I am someone who cares about you, now get up, Destiny." The girl persisted._

Destiny could not wake up, she couldn't move, and barely breathe. She tried so hard to fight her condition, but it seemed she would miss her opportunity.

_A medium Interlude_

How ironic that she wrote about sleep, but could not find it. How funny it was that when she refused to sleep, her body had begged her to. Another chance for Vincent to scold her when he came walking into the main entrance.

However, he wasn't there to scold her.

"Don't yell at me, I'll go to bed." Destiny said quickly when she saw a figure in the doorway.

"On the contrary, I don't want you to go to bed; I want you to come with me." The male spoke, the male that wasn't Vincent.

"Who are you?" Destiny asked, looking away from the fire to give the intruder a good glance.

"I'm sad you know nothing of me, I am your brother." The man answered sadly, and made a pout like noise.

"I have no family." Destiny answered shortly, now irritated that someone had barged in without permission, and now threw wild ideas at her.

"We are all Mother's children." The man responded coolly

"I am not one of them." Destiny answered, still giving him no look.

"Then you are a traitor, and must be killed. Nothing will stop me from bringing mother back to the place she so rightfully deserves." The man said angrily.

"Change your mind, and I will spare you. Mother still loves you, but I do not." The man added

"Fuck off." Destiny hissed coldly. She was so angry, how dare this person come from nowhere and tell her lies. If only the man could see how angry she was, then perhaps he would have fled and this whole episode won't happen. Destiny did not hurt people, and did not swear, unless she was very threatened or very angry.

She felt both, and as she turned to meet her guest's gaze he made an attack on her. Luckily she had gotten much better than what she used to be, and she could hold her own. However, geostigma slowed her down, and she was also very, very tired.

"Love mother!" The man shouted, firing a bullet at her, and skimming her shoulder.

Destiny let out a cry, and tried to find anything she could to fight back, because she didn't exactly carry her staff everywhere she went, especially in her own residence. She threw what she could at the silver haired man in front of her; chairs, books, even pieces of wood. The problem here though, was that nothing seemed to be slowing him down, and his advances were quick, and she was running out of floor space to crawl backwards on. Her back soon met the wall behind her, and now the man's face was so close to hers, his breath hit her lips.

The man shot her before Vincent could do anything about it, but thanks to Vincent's quick actions the man had a poor shot at her, and hit her in the shoulder instead of her heart where he had intended to pierce her.

"Get away from her!" Vincent screamed in anger, quick to pull his trigger at the young man, but not being able to hit him thanks to his incredible speed.

"This is family business!" The man shouted to business with an awkward evil grin on his face.

"We're the only family she's got, boy! You'd best be running away before I get a nice piece out of your pretty face!" Cid warned, rushing in behind Vincent.

"Or before I slice through you with my blade!" Yuffie added behind Cid.

"I too shall fight should the occasion call for it." Red XIII growled, making his way from the shadows, Cait sith holding onto his mane.

"I can still move…" Destiny thought, as the surroundings becoming dark. She pulled herself up, if anyone was going to do anything to that man; it was going to be her. She was so weak, and her blood was decorating the floor in bright dots that trickled from her wound to its pale face, but regardless of how she was feeling, she was going to do something to this boy. That was how angry, Destiny truly was.

Vincent shouted something to her, but in her insane rage and weakened state, she couldn't understand it. Even if she could, she probably wouldn't have listened to him anyways. This rage beating inside her was a result of pent up anger against the Shin-Ra, against Sephiroth, and against all those who tried to hurt her. She had come too far now to be destroyed by one person claiming to be her brother, and the true descendant of Jenova.

"Are you going to play with me?" The boy teased, looking to her direction, pointing his weapon at her gracefully.

His actions had been enough to send Vincent into a rage. No one was taking that girl away from him, not after all he had done for her, and how hard not only he, but the others and Destiny had fought to keep her from Shin-Ra, or anyone who came to claim her. In a matter of seconds he turned from man to beast, and using his massive paws, he dove into the Boy's body catching him off guard.

His attack allowed her to fall to the floor, her knees catching her, but her back weighing her down to the hard wood below her, where her blood could paint it red.

Vincent allowed himself to go crazy, and his massive jaws threw themselves against the boy's flesh. He wasn't going to kill him if he could help it, but he was going to make the boy wish he had never been born, and that he certainly hadn't messed with her in his house.

"Vincent!" Red XIII shouted from his side, and pounced on his body, forcing him off the boy who he had nearly killed.

"Destiny needs help, don't let your rage distract you, he's just a boy!" Red XIII continued.

The eyes of the beast that Vincent had become softened, and in his beastly form he rushed at her side, while the others took care of the mess the boy had made of himself.

"Damn it boy! You come back here again and next time my buddy here won't stop Vincent from killing you!" Cid shouted, throwing the boy out of the house.

"Yeah, you big, dumb jerk!" Yuffie exclaimed angrily, tossing her tongue out of her mouth to administer a raspberry.

But the boy only smiled in response, and gave them both evil looks in his eyes. "Mother will get her, and Mother will claim back her children. My brothers and sisters will come for her. My family…." The by trailed off as he faded into a black fog that misted itself away. He had failed, and the price he paid was death.

Destiny had been hurt very badly. How did she always get herself into these situations?

Vincent couldn't turn himself back into a man, he was far too angry to do so. The best he could do was give a growl towards Cid and the others, as he lay next to Destiny like a pet dog would.

Cid walked towards the girl on the ground, and the beast next to her, whose fur was collecting her blood.

"I'll help her, but damn it boy, you'd better turn back into a man or I'll be pissed as hell when I get back." Cid growled, taking Destiny into his arms. "You need to take better care of this little lady, ya know?" He added.

Vincent growled as a response, standing up from the ground.

"I don't want to hear it, now calm down and get yer ass back in gear before I kick it back there." Cid said one final time before he left the room.

Yes, indeed. How did Destiny always find herself in these situations? What was it that made her so vulnerable? What was it that always seemed to attract danger to her? All she could do was think back.

_Entry resumed_

Once she had finally woken up, she had been covered in a red fabric that felt like heavy cloth. What had happened during the course of the night?

"Hey, are you alright?" An old man asked, seeing that she had opened her eyes.

"Where am I?" She asked groggily, rubbing her eyes in the process of trying to wake up.

"The slums of sector 6, but I have a question of my own. What is a girl like you doing in a place like this?" The man seemed very friendly, and before he could get an answer out of her, a woman spoke behind him.

"Now honey, leave that poor girl alone." The woman said, putting a cup of green liquid at the bed-side table next to her.

Once her eyes focused, she was able to tell each feature of the couple. The man was tall and thin with a balding head and deep grey hair. He had very kind brown eyes, and seemed to do what his wife had said, and walked away from Destiny.

The woman on the other hand was shorter than the man, and was also a bit on the chubby side. She too was quite old, but younger than the man. Her hair had faded to a light grey, but her green eyes were still warm and full of life.

"My name is Eirelav, and my husband's name is Trebor. We saw you just outside our sector, and you were asleep, and this large dog was with you!" Eirelav told her, also setting down a bowl filled with what looked like pudding.

"The dog ran off when we came for you, so we assumed it wasn't your pet." Trebor said from the kitchen just in front of her. Their house was very small, it seemed that everything was in one location, and there was barely any room for the three of them. The kitchen and the living room weren't too far apart, and there were about five feet between the couch she was on, and the bed behind a large white curtain.

"Thank you for taking me in, but I really don't understand why you would do something like that." Destiny responded quietly.

"Well, you were about to get hurt by some local thugs, but before they could have taken advantage of you, Trebor here saved your life." The woman explained with a smile, she seemed very proud of her husband.

"I used to be in the military back in the day!" Trebor said proudly, as he signaled to his old uniform that was displayed on the wall. "The kids around here know that, and even though I am 58, they still respect and fear me!" Trebor added.

"You're very lucky, dear." Eirelav said, and gave her a smile. "What are you doing in a place like this, though?" She asked

"You just told me not to ask that!" Trebor exclaimed suddenly, which made Destiny smile. The couple was obviously very used to teasing one another.

"I was looking for somewhere to go. I was separated from my group and I got lost." Destiny answered

"Well you're welcome to stay here for a few nights. We don't have much, but we're open to take care of you." Eirelav offered, handing her a spoon.

"You're very kind, but I really must go, there are people looking for me." Destiny answered, standing up from the couch she was lying on, and playing with a hole she found in her shirt, which caused her to sigh. How old was this thing any ways?

Eirelav, catching Destiny's look gave her a wide smile before speaking. "Well at least change into something more suitable for a young lady than that before you leave." Eirelav said, opening a nearby closet.

"Oh no, please I'm perfectly happy with what I am wearing." Destiny stammered.

"No, really you should take her clothes, she has far too many!" Trebor commented.

"He's right, and most of these I wore when I was your age. I used to be a performer when I was in my mid twenties, and I had all these nice dresses for when I had to meet someone important. You can have them all; I don't fit into them anymore." Eirelav explained, folding clothes and setting them into a bag. "You can't possibly be happy with that old men's shirt, now can you? Besides, it's dirty and has holes in it. What have you been doing in that thing, fighting?"

Destiny gave Eirelav a nervous smile, and attempted to cover up the holes that were easily identifiable.

"Well, if you don't want them you can always give them away to another girl." Eirelav suggested.

"This is very nice, and I appreciate it, but really it isn't necessary." Destiny persisted.

"Oh it is! Our son has a wife who already has everything she could want. I would rather my special things go to a girl who needs them rather than simply wants them. You remind me of myself, and so I feel as though you deserve nice things." Eirelav said, and put the garments into a bag that she handed to Destiny. "You don't have to change now, but I ask that you please take them."

"Thank you, so much. I really do need to be going. I have to see if I can catch up to my group before they leave me behind. As a token of my gratitude, please allow me to pay you." Destiny answered, taking what Gil she could spare out of her satin bag.

"Nonsense, we took you in, and you don't owe us a cent." Trebor exclaimed

"Please, I don't need this much. I have enough to get me by." Destiny answered

"No, dear, you go ahead and keep that; you'd better run off to find your friends before they leave you." Eirelav said.

"Thank you so much for what you have done for me, but I am going to leave the Gil here, as you have had me take these dresses. I will not forget the kindness you have given to me." Destiny explained, and put the Gil on the bedside table. She then gathered what was hers and the new bag filled with clothes and she left their humble home, hoping that she would find more people like them in the world.

"Take care of yourself there!" Trebor shouted, and tossed her a green vile.

"Yes, and do come back should you run into trouble!" Eirelav added, waving good bye to Destiny.

She waved good bye to the couple walking out of the small neighborhood they had taken her to. Even though she was filled with renewed strength and energy, it didn't stop Midgar from being a troublesome task to get through. She didn't know how she was going to get out of the slums, or how she got there, but she had to, and the best way for her to get out, was to start walking wherever her feet would take her.

She reached for her weapon and her bag of Gil that was now up to 2000 until she had given the old couple 500 for their trouble. Those random encounters were starting to pay off as far as her collection of money was concerned. Secretly she hoped to get into more just for the sake of money, but really she just found the things a large trouble that she hated getting into. She took in a great yawn and forced herself to move onwards to wherever she could walk to.

Without a sound for a warning, she suddenly found the same dog that had previously helped her in front of her, with a stick in its mouth.

"Hey there girl, you want to play with the stick?" Destiny asked, walking towards the dog with a smile.

The dog panted happily, and took off hoping Destiny would follow her.

"Hey!" She shouted suddenly, racing after the dog, whose plan had worked after all. From what she could remember, she must have ran for five minutes or so, because it didn't take long for her to come up to the remains of a church, and the dog was no where to be found.

"….What is this?" Destiny thought, as she walked up to the old, heavy wooden doors. She didn't know what had come over her; before she knew it her hand was reaching the handle to pull it open. She felt hypnotized, like someone had taken over her body and forced her to pull the church doors open.

She was glad that she had though, because once she walked inside the haven of heaven, she felt all her troubles melt away. The flower garden in the center of the room had made her smile, and the rays of light coming from mysterious places had also made her sorrows melt away. However, she noted that she was not alone. There in the center were three men, two she liked and one she despised.

"Vincent!" Destiny shouted in surprise, running towards him faster than she had ever run in her life.

Vincent's response was much less enthusiastic, but he was still relieved to see her. He did not open his arms to meet her, but he did not stop her from hugging him as tight as she could.

"You're here! You and Cid, you're both here!" Destiny mumbled into his cape as she nuzzled her head against him, but the moment did not last long, as she felt a sudden twinge of pain, and she let go immediately.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… I was just so glad to see you." Destiny responded when she saw his cold look on his face that he always wore.

"You have nothing to apologize about. I was looking for you as well." Vincent explained, seeming as though he was in a very angry mood. He put a hand on her shoulder. "I did not mean to abandon you." He then turned to Cloud and gave him a nod. "I still see you're as stubborn as ever, Cloud Strife. Very well then, your actions do not stop me from being your friend, but they do cause me to leave you in peace. When you need me, I will be there as all friends are, however you should remember all the things I have done for you." Vincent said, and then walked past Cloud.

Cloud didn't even return a look, he simply responded in the best way that Cloud could: by walking away.

"Now you just wait a damn minute!" Cid shouted in anger.

"Forget it…" Vincent called to Cid just before Destiny walked past Cid and himself.

"Where are you going?" Vincent asked, before she could make it to the door.

Destiny turned around to answer him "I don't know… wherever I can go to live."

"…..You're not coming back with us?" Vincent asked a bit perplexed by her response.

"…I thought this was where we were parting ways…" Destiny confessed.

"It was, but plans changed." Vincent said. "…You are more than welcome to go off by yourself, but you are also welcome to travel back to my home as well." Vincent offered.

His response made her eyes light up. "Do you mean that?" Destiny asked.

"I do, but before we leave, we will spend one more night in Midgar. We won't be going directly home. I know others who I think might have more information about your disease." Vincent answered.

"Where are they?" Destiny asked

"Scattered across the world, but we can travel and find them. Worry not, Cid has committed to joining our cause." Vincent answered

"Yup, that's right girlie. I'll be yer captain from now on. Just leave it to me." Cid said proudly "Besides, I haven't seen Vincent in a long time, and any fight again Shin-Ra is a good one, those mother $." Cid said angrily

"Thank you, both of you. I really appreciate all of this." Destiny said, bowing her head.

"No need to thank that which is given freely." Vincent responded, walking forwards.

She still wished she could have told him so much more than she was able to at that moment. Obviously they were both men of their word, because they still protected her to this day, and for that she couldn't give anything in the world for. Their dedication had made her feel more comfortable with being free than anything else had. Sure she wasn't exactly 100 percent free, but she was free enough to where she could do what she wanted when she wanted.

_A not so quick interlude_

That was the last piece of paper she could use, and before Vincent would walk back in, she stuck it under her pillow just as he heard his foot steps outside the door.

"Hey, are you dressed?" Vincent asked after he knocked on the door with his metal claw.

"Yes." She answered softly.

Vincent walked into the room; for once he wasn't wearing his red cape, or his metal shoes. Nope, today Vincent Valentine was dressed in his black shirt and pants, walking around in dark grey socks. Destiny liked it when he showed his face, because he was quite the handsome man, and had nothing to be ashamed of. However, Destiny did not comment, she didn't have a word to say, for she was far too upset and tired to do anything but appreciate the way he was dressed.

Her eyes were looking less and less energetic each day, mostly because Vincent did not permit her to get out of bed, especially with her wound taking longer than normal to heal.

"Cid says you should be healed in time for Christmas." Vincent said as he took a seat at her bed side, and glanced at her pale face. He already knew something was wrong, and by the look in his eyes, he was in a great deal of trouble.

"Great." Destiny commented flatly.

"Please, don't start this again, Dest." Vincent said patiently

"Actually Vincent, I'm fine with your decision. I'm just not feeling well. I feel warm, my stomach is sick, and I'm dizzy. I need sleep and can't find it. I need comfort yet it is something no one is able to give. I'm feeling just a little more lost than normal. For once I feel very…discouraged." Destiny confided to him softly.

Vincent had no answers or words to say, but his hand found hers, and he placed a yellow piece of materia in her palm.

"What is this?" Destiny asked, holding the orb up to the light that spilt into the room.

"It's a rare materia. I promise it will help you sleep." Vincent answered "As for being dizzy and your stomach being sick, I brought you this…" Vincent added, handing her a light blue bottle. "And for comfort, I can only tell you that we're all going to be here should something happen." Vincent finished.

"I want you to know I can get up, I can walk, and I'm not as weak as you think." Destiny argued

"Don't change the subject; you know I don't feel like chancing it. What happens if your body gives out on you?" Vincent rebutted.

"Well it hasn't yet! Give me a chance… let me act normal. Sitting around just makes me feel weak. I promise I won't strain unless you're around, so please… give me a damn chance!" Destiny argued.

Vincent was silent for a few moments before he had actually made up his mind. He knew very well what it was like being able to get up from a long nap. He also knew how it felt to be referred to as a weak link in the chain.

"Very well, but you can only exert yourself when either myself or Cid is around." Vincent permitted.

"Thank you." Destiny answered shortly, still irritated, now knowing how Cloud felt when it came to being unable to do anything.

"I can see you're not up to talking…" Vincent started.

"No, Vincent it's not that. I just hate feeling useless and hopeless. I know I can fight, I know I can move. I'm only frustrated because you don't let me do any of those things." Destiny argued

"I understand." Vincent responded, then sighing as he stretched himself against the chair.

"Oh… about last night…What was that thing you turned into?" Destiny asked

"A galian beast, it only happens when I become more upset than normal." Vincent answered, obviously feeling uncomfortable with the way he was dressed, but with his cape out of commission, and he being unable to wash it without her help, he was stuck wearing his black outfit.

"I guess that came from the experimentation?" Destiny asked trying to make him talk more. They had known each other for a year now, why was he being shy all of the sudden?

"Yes, and it will never go away. I'm sorry if I frightened you, there was a reason I never revealed it before now." Vincent explained

"It didn't frighten me at all; I had a feeling you were still Vincent underneath that large coat of fur." Destiny said.

"Nothing about me frightens you in the slightest?" Vincent asked, now resting on his elbows that sat against his thighs.

"Why are you still asking me this?" Destiny asked, giving him a perplexed look. "Why are you acting so off today?" She added

"I apologize, last night scared me a little more than I had hoped in would." Vincent answered.

"…You always act like this when others are around, are you ashamed to show your feelings to them?" Destiny asked, crossing her arms in the process.

"…I'm not very used to…showing my affection towards others. I trust you and Cid enough to do so, but not Yuffie…or Reeve, or really Red XIII at that matter." Vincent answered truthfully, lowering his head, and leaning back against the chair.

Destiny had no response to his words, and she dropped the conversation, to start a new one.

"Cid said it took a long time for you to turn back into a human last night, and that you stayed with me in your galian beast form." Destiny revealed, and looked out the window nearby, hoping he wouldn't see the blushing in her cheeks.

"Yes, I wanted to make sure you made it through the night. I didn't want all that time we spent protecting you to be lost." Vincent answered, with his stone look he always used when he was hiding feelings.

"Is that the only reason why?" Destiny asked, now twirling the yellow materia in her palm.

"You're my friend Destiny, why would I want harm to come to you?" Vincent asked, now reaching out for her arm. "Let me check your geostigma…" he added quickly afterwards.

"…Is that the only thing we are, Vincent… just friends?" Destiny wondered out loud, and took her arm from his hand.

"Yes, Destiny…" Vincent answered, standing up from the chair. "If you want something more, I am incapable of giving anything more than friendship. I apologize." Vincent lied

"What happened to loving me as equally and more as I did you?" Destiny asked, referring to their conversation three months ago.

"I didn't think you were in love with me, and I misjudged. I apologize for the confusion." Vincent answered calmly. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings…"

"You didn't hurt my feelings," She lied and continued speaking "I understand. I didn't mean for this to be awkward." Destiny sighed, and put the yellow orb of materia on the nightstand nearby.

"Aren't you going to sleep?" Vincent asked, still standing.

"No, I have something else I need to do." Destiny answered, now sounding a little less hopeful than before.

"You should sleep…"Vincent advised.

"I don't want to sleep!" Destiny grunted angrily, and then drew herself back when she realized she had yelled at him.

"Very well…" Vincent retorted before walking away.

"Vincent, wait!" Destiny called, but she couldn't make him turn around, he wouldn't even face her, not after the way he knew he had made her feel. His own guilt stopped him from facing the truth that regardless how many times he tried; he could not force himself from caring for her.

Destiny slumped down, and forced herself to lie against the soft white pillow below her. She slid her hand under her comfort tool in order to cuddle with it, but her hand met the journal she had been writing in.

Almost immediately she threw the old journal against the wall and heard her pages splatter against the hard floor along with the leather binding.

She was only upset because she had read him wrong. On the other hand she was also angry with him for treating her like a child. She would beat him at his own game; she would win this battle if it literally killed her to do so. She had to know if she was capable of what she thought she was.

Pushing herself up from the old bed, she forced herself into a winter dress that Eirelav had given her a year ago, and preceded to exit the room. The long pale pink knitting covered her thin arms and body while hugging her curves and shape. She pulled on her boots afterwards and prepared herself for something she had wanted to for a while now; she was leaving the house.


	6. Chapter 6

_Welcome to chapter six, this chapter is very long so my advice is to copy and paste it into your computer so you can read it later without having to be online .I have one more chapter to go until I am finished with the first part of Winding Memories. I am going to write two more tales after this one, so chapter seven will not the true conclusion of their adventures. The reason I am doing this is because I'd hate to write on and on about character meetings and development that no one cares about. Also you might notice that in this chapter you might be confused on how there are journal entries in a page less journal. Just so you kids know… you can always buy paper. All will be explained. Oh and in this chapter, I kind of have some partial nudity, but I don't detail anything. No adult stuff though. Next story won't be so teen friendly on the subject, sorry._

_In this chapter I am experimenting with new ways to express journal breaks and flashbacks. If you don't like them, tell me and I will go back to the old ways, I just thought this way was more creative._

_Also, remember this story is set a year before Advent Children, and two years before Dirge. This story was also written before Dirge of Cerberus came out in the United States, and I'm trying very hard to keep this in line with all original story lines of Final Fantasy seven. As you can image, it's hard to write a story to something when it isn't here yet. I started this story long before Dirge was heard of and I wanted to get it done before it became only a dream._

_Anyways, enough talking, on with chapter six, I hope you enjoy it!_

Journal Entry Six

_It's been a long day living with this; it's been a long time since I've felt so sick_

_I used to long for time alone; I used to long for a place of my own,_

_I've lost faith in everything I'm lost so lost, I'm lost without you._

_Oh Mercy me, God bless catastrophe._

_-Alkaline Trio_

She couldn't sleep, and all she seemed to do was toss and turn at every moment she almost started to fall asleep. Midgar slum hotels were the worst, especially with two small beds and one dusty floor.

"If you calm down, sleep will come to you." Vincent said from the floor, hearing her toss every few minutes.

"I'm sorry, I just can't sleep… something won't let me." Destiny responded

"Relax and you'll fall asleep." Vincent advised, feeling Cid sit up a moment later.

"I'm going for a walk." Cid said suddenly, sitting on the second bed in the room, getting up quickly.

"Why?" Vincent asked

"I can't sleep either, plus I ain't tired. I'll be back in an hour." Cid answered, pulling the door open.   
"Wait! Are you crazy? You know where we are! Are you just asking to fight?" Vincent asked

"I can take on a few punks; maybe a fight or two will make me tired, now stop getting all concerned." Cid responded before he walked towards the door and opened it. "You kids behave now…" he said finally and closed the door after his body was out of the way.

Vincent sighed in response, and put his back up against the wall behind him.

Destiny sighed too, and scratched her left arm where it was tingling. Perhaps her geostigma was spreading, and with no light on, it was hard to see if it was or not. Hopefully she was imagining things, but just incase she would inform Vincent.

"…I think my geostigma is spreading," Destiny said suddenly, catching Vincent off guard.

"What makes you think that now?" Vincent asked

"My arm is tingling… and it keeps moving further down. It feels like it's moving quickly." Destiny responded.

"What?" Vincent asked perplexed, and stood up. "Geostigma shouldn't travel that fast…" Vincent added, while he walked towards the door where the light switch was.

"It feels weird…" Destiny complained, rubbing her left arm.

Vincent turned the light on, hoping he wasn't about to have to face a huge problem.

To his relief and Destiny's demise, it was no geostigma. Instead it was an eight legged friend that had made her arm a nice spot to rest on.

She let out a cry of fear, and shook her arm up and down as quickly as she could. This was the first time he had ever seen her act less than her age. She was screaming like a three month old, and shaking her arm so quickly, that he was afraid she would throw it off.

"Calm down!" Vincent shouted, running to her side, and grabbing her arm where the spider was still on.

"Get it off!" Destiny managed to squeak as shivers ran down her spine.

"It's only a spider, Destiny." Vincent said calmly, as he took the small thing from her arm, and held it in his hand.

"Yeah, you say it's just a spider! I hate those things… just get it away…." Destiny pleaded

"Alright…"Vincent started, and opened the one window in the room. "Are you sure you don't want some company? Spiders are quite nice creatures. Perhaps you should allow him to stay with you." Vincent asked with a smile, and extended his hand towards Destiny, who jumped back in a fright.

"Not funny!" Destiny shouted fearfully.

Vincent let out a small chuckle and put the spider outside where he belonged, and shut the window.

"Honestly, all that for a small spider?" Vincent asked while he walked back to the place he was sitting.

"…I'm scared of them…" Destiny said a little embarrassed while her cheeks blushed furiously.

"That is an awfully small thing to be scared over." Vincent answered, as he took a seat on the floor in between the beds.

"Everyone is scared of something small, I bet even you are." Destiny said in response.

"Nothing small," Vincent answered.

"You know the size of something doesn't always equate to the size of the fear." Destiny said slyly. "There has to be something the great Vincent Valentine is afraid of…" Destiny added.

"I'm hardly great, and rarely afraid." Vincent said unsurely, and gave her a glance from the floor.

"Well when I find out what it is, I'll never let you live it down, you hear?" Destiny said "Plus I'll tell Cid." Destiny added

Vincent smiled, only she could bring out the other side of him. He never had any control when she was around. Why was that, he wondered.

"Well you won't find out. Yuffie thought I was gay, and look how that turned out…" Vincent answered, now feeling more playful than normal.

"Hmmm, from the way Cid explains it, you still haven't proven to them you aren't gay." Destiny chided.

"What does that mean?" Vincent asked, giving her a quirked brow.

"Still haven't seen you with a girl… have you ever been kissed by one?" Destiny asked

"Yeah when I was about seventeen…" Vincent answered

"Did you like it?" Destiny asked with a smile on her face.

"What kind of question is that?" Vincent questioned in shock.

"Just answer me!" Destiny teased

"Yeah, I did… but that doesn't matter." Vincent responded

"So liking girls doesn't matter if you're gay?" Destiny asked

"No, that's not what I meant!" Vincent suddenly shouted embarrassed by this conversation. He was falling all over himself. Where were his witty comments? Where was his cool, serene attitude?

"Calm down! I'm only teasing." Destiny responded, relaxing against the bed.

"I'm sure you aren't gay, Vincent." Destiny added

"Good." Vincent responded "I'm not and never have or will be gay." Vincent commented

Destiny responded with a small laugh, and rolled over to face the wall.

"What's so funny?" Vincent asked.

"Thinking of you and Cid making out…" Destiny responded, trying to hide her snickers.

"What! That's the worst thing I've ever heard of!" Vincent cried in frustration.

"Relax!" Destiny answered, laughing out loud. "I know you aren't gay, come on!"

Vincent said not a word, but crossed his arms and looked away. This was the first time he had been anywhere near fun with her. This was also the first time she had ever seen him lose control of himself and act less than what he was.

"Vincent, calm down." Destiny said, turning to him.

"…I am calm." Vincent responded, trying to mask his anger.

"Aw, no you're upset." Destiny teased, stretching herself to put her arms on his shoulders.

"I am not upset…" Vincent answered, turning around to face her, and not expecting her face to be so close to his, which caused him to draw back.

This caused Destiny to burst out into laughter. "You are too." Destiny revealed, and before she could say anything else, fell from the bed to his back, hitting her head in the process.

"Ouch…."She grumbled while rolling off of Vincent's crushed form.

"Are you okay?" Vincent asked, pushing himself up so he could look down to her laying form on the ground.

"Yeah…I just hit my head, that's all." Destiny answered, pushing herself up from the dusty floor she had fallen on. "…Sorry, I didn't mean to do that." It was now her turn to be embarrassed and out of control.

"No, it's fine. I think we've had enough fun. Let's go to sleep." Vincent advised.

"Yes. I think I'm tired now." Destiny answered, rubbing her head and sitting back on the bed she had fallen off of.

_Her handwriting faded…_

_Vincent has to think too….don't you know? (AKA Vincent's POV)_

After he had seen the journal on the floor, he knew he had messed up with her. His heart sank, but not before anger settled into him.

"What happened? Did you two fight?" Red XIII asked, scanning the room.

"She got a bit upset with me, but that was a result of my words. However, I wasn't here when she threw her journal." Vincent said.

"…What did you say to make her mad?" Yuffie asked, poking her head into the room.

"I told her to sleep after she told me she was was tired of being treated like a sick person. Plus I lied to her about something, and I think she knows I did." Vincent confessed.

"…I have to go find her." Vincent said after a moment of pause.

"I'll go with you!" Red XIII offered, and slinked himself in front of Vincent.

"No, I can go by myself. Besides, this is something between us." Vincent responded

"Don't ya just hate it when couples fight?" Yuffie asked, looking to Red XIII

"We're not a couple!" Vincent shouted defensively, his guilt pulling at him. He turned away in embarrassment and walked towards the door to leave.

Yuffie waited until he was almost to the door to shout at him. She had had enough of his emotional bull lately, and now it was time to speak up. "…You think you can fool me?" Yuffie asked, putting her hands on her hips. "I know you have a thing for her. We all do."

"I care for her; that I cannot deny." Vincent retorted, without turning his head towards her.

"…You have more feelings than that, Vincent." Yuffie shouted in anger.

"I can't trust myself with those feelings, can't you all understand?" Vincent growled, still not giving them a glance or even a look, but simply shaking his head.

"We understand perfectly. The real question is why can't you understand?" Yuffie asked before walking behind him and forcing him to turn around. "You can't continue like this! All you ever do is brood about how miserable you are, and yet in front of you, there is a girl who brings out what you aren't!" Yuffie shouted, shoving him a bit. "Not only that, but you act like the stupidest person in the world when she is around!" Yuffie continued, and then threw her fist into the air with every shout she gave. "Are you going to let one thing ruin the rest of your life? Or are you going to make it happy by forgetting whatever the horrible past was and let it go?" Yuffie asked, and then threw her arms against her chest in a folded manner. "We already know how you feel, why do you insist on keeping it hidden? If you want to tell her, just tell her, but stop acting like you don't know how you feel, because you do." Yuffie finished, and stormed out of the room, not even caring what his response was.

Vincent was left speechless, had he really left himself that open that everyone knew? He was so used to shutting himself off that he wanted it to stay that way. Life had been much more different than before since Destiny had stepped into his house. Maybe being broody wasn't exactly who Vincent was anymore. Maybe he was someone else, maybe now he was like the rest of them.

_How could she let her pen slip? (AKA Journal entry resumed)_

Even though she felt safe and away from the grasps of Shinra, there was always some kind of looming presence around her that made her feel sick. Or maybe that was the airship…

"You need to get your flying legs, if you're going to travel!" Cid shouted behind his shoulder.

"We've been flying for three days straight; I can't take much more…" Destiny grumbled

"Why can't ya just quit yer complaining and enjoy the ride?" Cid asked with a large smile on his face.

"…because this movement is making me sick…" Destiny answered, slumping down to the metallic floor.

"We'll be there soon." Vincent said after he walked into the room

"Where are we going?" Destiny asked, trying to concentrate on something else.

"To a friend's place, he's hidden in a secret location, and since I've only know you a day or so, we're blind folding you!" Cid responded.

"Say what? Why are you blind folding me?" Destiny asked defensively.

"Because he's involved with work in regards to taking down the remainder of Shin-Ra. He's a double spy." Vincent revealed, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall near her.

"So? I hate the Shin-Ra too, what makes you think I will tell?" Destiny asked, not bothering to look up, but most definitely irritated.

"Because, I've only known you for about a week, and if you aren't who you say you are, then I don't want him being punished." Vincent explained lowly.

"That is just a nice way of saying you don't trust me." Destiny whispered.

"On the contrary," Vincent started, and lowered himself to her so his eyes could pierce hers. "I trust you much more than you believe. What I don't trust is our friend's safety. He has done a lot for us, and so we cannot betray him now." Vincent revealed, and when he was finished, he went back to his original position of leaning against the wall.

Destiny didn't say anything in response, but she did lay herself down against the floor below her, and hugged her knees, taking in small breaths at a time.

"What are you doing?" Vincent asked, watching her movements.

"I heard that this cures motion sickness." Destiny answered shortly.

"Who told you that?" Cid asked, now wanting to see what she was doing.

"I don't remember." Destiny said truthfully, which was odd. Maybe she would remember it later.

She forgot how long they had traveled after her last words, but she did remember seeing some kind of grey mountains before Cid had turned around and smiled at her with a wide grin.

"Sorry little lady, we've got to blind fold you now." Cid apologized, actually sounding sincere about it. "Go ahead Vincent," Cid commanded, giving Vincent a nod before he turned around to land the airship.

Vincent knelt down to Destiny, who sat up to meet him. "I really am sorry about this, Destiny." Vincent said, as he took her hands. "Stand up for me," Vincent said, helping her on the way, and once she was standing he asked her to do another movement. "Now turn around for me, please." Vincent said gently, watching her turn her back towards him.

Something funny then happened to Vincent as he tied his red bandages that he wore on his forehead around her eyes. Butterflies erupted in his stomach, and his heart started to jog. He hadn't touched a woman as gently as he was touching her in a long time. To him, touching a woman in any gentle form, especially on the face, was something sensual. He believed it was an act of affection. He did not know why he felt that way, but he simply did. Truth be told, he liked it, but he would lie to himself while he wrapped the bandage around her eyes several times.

"Is that too tight?" Vincent asked, after he had finished tying the cloth.

"Not at all, it feels fine, but the only problem is that since my eyes are closed I can feel the movement even more…" Destiny answered, wavering a bit.

"Hold onto me…" Vincent commanded nervously, turning her around to face him.

Destiny obeyed and wrapped her arms around his waist, and held him tightly.

"If you feel as though you're getting sick, tell me." Vincent said, putting his right hand on her head lightly, to signal that she was okay. "We're landing right now so this shouldn't be a problem."

"Okay," Destiny responded, and soon she felt the airship hitting the ground softly. She could tell they had stopped, but she could still feel herself moving in the air. Her only hope was to wait for her brain to catch up with her senses.

"Alright buddy!" Cid said cheerfully, Destiny no longer being able to see their actions, but only hearing words. "Let's take her to our good friend!"

"We're going to move now, so I need you to let go." Vincent ordered softly, and her arms unlocked themselves from his waist.

"Now Cid is going to lead you to my back, and whatever you do, do not let go of me." Vincent requested.

Destiny felt Cid's hands on her shoulders, and felt him lead her to Vincent's back.

"Stop right there girlie." Cid ordered, and took her left arm. "Now feel for him, but be slow about it, this is all about the way you position yourself" Cid explained.

Destiny did just as Cid said, and she put her hands out in front of her feeling for Vincent's red cape, which she did not feel. Instead she felt the smooth texture of cloth, and in wonder she quirked her head. "What am I touching?" Destiny asked, her fingers rubbing the cloth, as if she were trying to identify it.

"My back…" Vincent answered, shifting a bit below her finger tips.

"…This doesn't feel like your cape…" Destiny said curiously.

"That's because I took it off. I don't need that heavy thing slowing us down." Vincent answered.

"Oh!" Destiny cried and drew her hands back, "I'm sorry..." she added.

"Hurry it up there you two!" Cid interjected, causing Destiny to feel for Vincent's back again. Once she found it, she put her arms over his shoulders, and felt his arms grab under her legs, which caused her to gasp.

"Did I hurt you?" Vincent asked, loosening his grip on her.

"No, I just didn't expect that…" Destiny said softly.

"I see. Hold on tight, Destiny. I don't want to lose you when we run from encounters." Vincent said, as he tightened his grip once more and began walking.

"We'll be there in about an hour or so…" Cid announced as sound of him stomping through leafy terrain was heard.

"Are we in a forest?" Destiny asked, attempting to look around.

"Yes, it's very dangerous here, there are a lot of creatures who are big and powerful, so be silent, and hold onto me." Vincent demanded sternly.

"Sorry…" Destiny apologized.

"Shut up!" Cid hissed angrily.

She didn't know where she was, what they were doing, or why they were here, she just knew that she felt leaves brush up against her skin and heard boots tromping through high grass. It was brilliant how once she was unable to see, all of her other senses heightened. She could smell each blade of grass that passed her nostrils, and the smell of fresh mud that was being stirred beneath the boots of Cid and Vincent.

She could even hear every little thing, Cid's lance cutting through vines, and Vincent's soft panting as he attempted to mask how hard it was to hold her and stomp through mucky surroundings.

Vincent took a sudden drop from a low step she wasn't familiar with, and she let out a cry, but instead of their usual softness, all she got was a stern hiss which was a signal to be quiet.

So on they went, or… the men went, Destiny was just riding along. For hours it seemed as though they continued, and she could feel their energy dropping. She could also feel their agitations rise the more they walked around. There wasn't much to write about… she was blindfolded the whole time. All she could remember was what broke the long travel.

"Awe $#, I'm lost, I forgot how I was supposed to get through this damn place." Cid growled to himself, but both Destiny and Vincent heard him, even though he was pretty far away (or so Destiny guessed).

"I thought you said you knew how to get there like you knew the back of your hand!" Vincent shouted.

"I wear gloves, shows how much I know!" Cid shouted back to Vincent.

"….What!" Vincent growled loudly, obviously tired and irritated.

"That's a shock to you? I never take these off!" Cid argued back, and soon Destiny could feel Vincent stop, where (what she guessed) was in front of Cid.

"Are we even in the right place?" Vincent asked angrily.

"Now that I am sure of, I'm just not sure about where we're going…" Cid confessed.

"Damn it!" Vincent hissed, dropping Destiny who was still clasped onto his neck, and caused him to choke. "Let go of my neck!" Vincent hissed, and Destiny obeyed, dropping to the ground below her, which she sloshed into.

"I don't know whether to say ouch or to say eww…" Destiny thought to herself, much too scared to upset Vincent. So she sat in the cold mud, and allowed it to harden on her, waiting for one of them to call to her. She simply listened to them argue on and on…

"You told me you knew!" Vincent shouted angrily

"I thought I did; just hold on a minute so I can think!" Cid yelled angrily.

"Cid come on!" Vincent groaned.

"We'll just have to stay here tonight, it's getting late and I know a small lake we passed by a few minutes ago. We can rest, and I'll be ready in the morning." Cid yelled back.

"We should have been ready now!" Vincent argued.

"Well I wasn't! Give me a break!" Cid yelled

"Shut up!" Destiny finally yelled, and then stood up; pointing in what she thought was the right direction to where they were.

"We're staying here! I'm getting this off me because YOU," She started, and pointed to who she thought was Vincent "Lost your temper and dropped me into this puddle of mud!" she said, and then paused to point to what she thought was Cid and began to scream at him too. "And YOU didn't know where you were going! So you are both at fault and you will shut up, stop arguing and we're staying the night so you can think, and I can get this off of me!" she continued, outraged by the way they were acting.

Hell hath no scorn like the fury of a woman. Today, Cid and Vincent learned that lesson, because after she screamed at them, they made up, and walked her back to the little lake that Cid had spotted earlier.

"I'm sorry I had to yell" Destiny apologized while they re-traced their foot steps. She was still blind folded, and Vincent was leading her along.

"I'm sorry I dropped you. I let my temper get the best of me." Vincent apologized in response.

"You do that too often. Why don't you try to relax once in a while?" Destiny asked, stumbling over a rock, which Vincent had caught her before she could fully fall.

"I usually don't have any emotions." Vincent answered, still leading her down some kind of path.

Destiny could feel the night settling in on her, and it made her shiver every step of the way.

"That's your problem. Learn to have fun, okay?" Destiny advised, offering him a smile.

"I'll…work on that I suppose." Vincent offered, not really knowing if he meant that statement.

Destiny didn't answer him, and simply continued to tromp through the forest's muddy terrain.

"…Are we there yet?" Destiny asked, gripping onto Vincent's arm.

"Actually, we've been here a while, I've just been trying to get you lost, incase you've learned where we were going…" Cid confessed.

"For the last time, I'm not with Shin-ra!" Destiny exclaimed loudly.

"Enough." Vincent said calmly, and stopped walking. "Let her rest, will you?" Vincent asked Cid.

"Very well, but someone is going to stand guard while she cleans up." Cid ordered

"What!" "No!" Vincent and Destiny argued at the same time.

"What, you want her getting eaten by something?" Cid asked, and then clearing his throat. "And as the oldest and obviously most responsible man, I elect myself to make sure she's safe." Cid added.

"….No." Vincent said flatly "I'll do it, because I won't be trying to look at her!" Vincent rebutted.

"What makes you think I'm going to peek?" Cid asked innocently.

"Oh sure, I'm the one who tried to pick up those nineteen year old girls a while a go. Yup, that's why I shouldn't keep guard!" Vincent mocked him angrily.

"I thought they were twenty six…" Cid said embarrassed.

"It's not like she's twenty six or anything…" Cid argued quickly.

"I don't know how old I am, but I think I am twenty eight or so…" Destiny corrected, letting go of Vincent's arm.

"Well Vincent, what are you standing here for, you want to watch her, go for it! But I'm making sure you don't look at her!" Cid said triumphantly.

Vincent sighed, and put his hands to work on untying the cloth around Destiny's eyes. By the time he had half way unraveled it, Destiny shooed his hands away and simply slipped it over her head.

"Could you have done that the whole time?" Vincent asked

"I figured it out like four hours ago…" Destiny answered, and handed him his bandage, while giving him a sly yet seductive and challenging look.

"I think I'll be okay if both of you boys just sat here and didn't watch me." Destiny answered before she gave him a sly grin.

"It really is so you won't get eaten by something…." Vincent started.

"Do you really think I am going to let a man who probably hasn't had a girlfriend in oh… twenty years watch me while I bathe?" Destiny interrupted, putting her hands on her hips.

"…It does sound foolish, but I really am not going to look..." Vincent answered flatly, feeling as though she didn't trust him.

"Vincent, this is not an issue of trust, this is an issue of two men and an undressed woman." Destiny responded and gave his shoulder a pat. "Listen, if I run into trouble, I'll give a little whistle…okay?"

"Fine, but if you get eaten by a snake…." Vincent started, giving her a sigh

"You'll feel terrible about it, and would go sleep for forty years. So don't worry." Destiny said one final time before she walked off without waiting for his next words.

She remembered that water and how clean it was. It had been a while since she had to bathe outdoors, and doing so didn't bother her at all. Luckily she had anticipated this, and brought an extra bit of clothing that she tucked away in the bag that Eirelav had given her.

The night was beautiful, and the stars shimmered like they used to when she was a girl. Much too often did she think back to when she was small, but usually nothing came to her. This time though, she could vividly remember Lucrecia, and how she cried one night under stars that twinkled just like these did.

_A flashback_

Destiny was quiet, and she could hear Lucrecia sobbing in the room next to hers. Far too often did she hear people arguing and shouting, but today things were too quiet for her liking. She remembered getting up, and allowing her feet to pat onto the dirty floor as she guided herself into Lucrecia's room.

"What is wrong, Miss Lucrecia?" Destiny asked innocently, her big eyes staring up to the crying woman.

"Destiny…what are you doing out of you room? You know Dr. Hojo doesn't like that." Lucrecia answered and dried her eyes and sniffled a bit.

"I heard you crying, and bunny wanted to give you a hug…" Destiny said softly, holding up her white rabbit, and opened its arms.

"That's very sweet, but you really should get back to your room." Lucrecia said softly, trying to hide the bloody gloves that were next to her.

"Miss Lucrecia does not want to see bunny?" Destiny asked sweetly, pulling the rabbit away.

"Miss Lucrecia wants to see bunny, but she is very busy." Lucrecia answered

"….if she is so busy, why is she crying? Bunny and I would like to know…" Destiny asked, pulling herself up to the bed to sit next to the woman.

"Oh, it's nothing you would understand. I just… lost a friend that's all." Lucrecia answered, lowering her eyes in guilt from what she had done. She only did it to keep him alive… but he shouldn't have interfered in the first place.

"Maybe he's playing hide and seek…" Destiny said cheerfully.

"No, her friend is dead and won't be coming back." Hojo said wickedly from the doorway. "What are you doing out here, so far from your room?" He asked holding out his long arm that was dripping in blood.

"…Dead?" Destiny whined softly.

"Hojo, don't talk that that, she's only five!" Lucrecia grunted, pulling Destiny close to her, which was the first time she had ever done anything to protect the girl.

"Don't talk to me like you aren't guilty! You're the one who wanted to do the experiment! And don't hold her like I'm going to hurt her! You know as well as I do that if our son dies, she is our only d---"

Her memory fuzzed, causing her head to pound against itself.

_She found herself on the shore of the lake… coughing…_

Why couldn't she remember any more? Who were they referring to? Who had died? She found herself coughing up water and other salty flavors, while a warm arm had held her against something else warm.

"What happened, is she okay?" Vincent shouted, running towards Cid who was holding her coughing form.

"She's fine…" Cid answered, clutching her to him softly. "She collapsed into the water, luckily for her I was keeping a safe eye on her." Cid explained.

Destiny, with a sudden voice, groaned a bit, putting her hand to her head and gave a wincing sigh. Each time she had a flash back or even thought of Sephiroth she went into a fit, "Mother…" She groaned softly, rocking in Cid's arms.

"Quick, let her go!" Vincent warned, pulling Cid back, and allowing Destiny to roll onto the ground, where she curled into a ball with no hesitation. "Mother…." She shouted, gripping her hair.

"Yamero!" Vincent shouted, and glided to her side, pulling her close to him. "Don't listen!" Vincent growled, gripping her arms and upper body to his. It was far too cold for her to be drenched in water, and bare to the world.

"I'm talking, listen to me!" Vincent whispered harshly into her ear, waiting for her muscles to unclench and relax.

"She's calling me…" Destiny whimpered into his chest, where he had buried her face.

"I know, but don't listen to her. Listen to my voice; follow it out of the blackness she has you in." Vincent directed, feeling her muscles start to relax bit by bit.

"She wants me to come to the reunion… I have to go…" Destiny shouted fiercely into his chest, trying to throw her body out of his arms.

"No! You're coming back to me, follow my voice." Vincent demanded, his arms tightening on her more, attempting to restrain her. "Follow my voice…" Vincent continued, sounding persistent.

"I don't want to go to her…" Destiny cried against him, her arms relaxing with the rest of her body.

"Then don't, come with Cid and I, we will help you. Calm down, its okay now, I've got you, and Cid is right here." Vincent whispered into her, his arms now hugging her more than anything.

Her arms continued to claw against his restraint, more so now than ever, she had heard Jenova calling to her. She had also heard Sephiroth throwing insults and violent threats. What could it be that was happening to her? How did this happen so fast? First she was bathing, and then she was coughing up water. Had her flashback done this to her, and if so, would this happen again?

Her violent thrusts with her arms had ended, and soon her body relaxed completely against Vincent, whose arms were still tight around her form, not trusting her to be completely calm yet.

"Destiny can you hear me?" Vincent asked, his right hand moving to the back of her head that was lifting up from his embrace.

Destiny had tears in her eyes when she revealed her face from his chest. "What happened to me?" she asked, giving Vincent's eyes a turn with hers while she tried to make sense of it all.

"That does not matter right now, what matters is that you are safe." Vincent answered and continued on with a demand, "You are going to bed now. Cid has a place for you to sleep. Worry not, we will be near." Vincent explained, pushing her against him.

"…Am I dressed at all?" Destiny asked, hoping for a good answer.

"Don't be alarmed, I have not, and cannot see anything. Please trust me." Vincent said calmly, hoping she wouldn't pull away, so he would have to see something. "Just keep yourself pressed to me, and all will be fine." Vincent answered.

"…Did Cid see me?" Destiny asked nervously.

"That matters not, just calm down." Vincent answered. "I'm going to put my cape over you, and take you into the tent. You can get dressed in there." Vincent directed, before his arms escaped her body and grabbed his cape to pull around her. He then put his right arm under her legs and used his left to support her back before moving "I'm standing up now." Vincent said, and with a push from his legs brought them both up so he could walk back to the tent.

"I'm almost to the tent, so listen to me. I am going to kneel down, and when I do please put my cloth over my eyes, and I will leave, so I cannot see anything." Vincent said, and a moment later did as he said. Very slowly his right knee met the earth below him and he knelt down and closed his eyes. He waited for her arms to un-coil themselves from around his neck. He then allowed her hands to put his forehead cloth over his closed eyes, and waited for her to step back from his body, which was now soaked in water, thanks to her. After she had moved away from him he felt for the tent cloth and closed it, then moved himself backwards from the temporary shelter. Then without one word he left, just a gentleman should, and never spoke of the topic again.

_Vincent reflects on things… and Destiny travels. Who will speak?_

Vincent was so angry at himself he could hardly stand it. How could he have lied to her about something so small? Yuffie had been right, and he knew it. He didn't have a clue to where Destiny was how would he find her? She couldn't have possibly gotten far, not without someone's help at least. He also took into consideration the battles she would have to face. Many huge and hairy creatures came out this time of year to catch their prey, and she wasn't strong enough to fight them off, especially in her condition.

He didn't care how far she had gotten, but he did care if she was lying in the cold snow, or if she was lost somewhere, or being attacked, or anything that could possible end her life. Even though he knew of her capabilities, her small powers that she had once awoken in herself long ago he still doubted she could make it. But he also taught her how to fight, and she had gotten stronger, so maybe she had a fighting chance. Vincent did not care though; he wanted her home with him. He reflected on his last confession of love and how it was returned in rejection. He knew he was too afraid to open up to Destiny thanks to Lucrecia, but maybe this time would be different. He hoped to himself that he hadn't angered Destiny enough to where she would deny him of his request to be with her.

This wasn't sounding like himself. He knew that he couldn't bask in his emptiness, but he knew that opening himself up was going to be a long process that hopefully she could work with. He had a small glimmer of hope from his thoughts though; she seemed forgiving, and best of all she seemed patient, which was something he admired in a woman.

The best thing about her (or so Vincent thought) was that she was always in control, and when she was, he wasn't. He had never known anyone who could make his personality do a 180 like Destiny could. Whenever she was around he couldn't help but laugh, or join in. Maybe confessing to her wasn't a bad thing, it would just be difficult.

Where was she? It was getting late, and the sun would be setting in a matter of minutes which means it would get colder, and her chances of getting sick would get higher. Why did he have to be such a jerk?

He wallowed in his misery a good long time while he was walking in the high snow that made his toes freeze.

_Her writing continued as she sat alone_

She was thankful he had said anything to her when she took a seat next to him on the large rock he was perched on. She thought that after the last episode they had together, he would be too embarrassed to talk to her.

"Cid is still mapping out where we are…" Vincent said once she sat next to him.

"Yeah, he's cursing in the tent, that's why I came out here." Destiny explained

"He does that often. Should you be accustomed to it the way I am, it doesn't bother you much." Vincent explained, keeping his red eyes on the bright moon above them.

"Thank you, for earlier," Destiny whispered, hoping he wouldn't hear, thanks to her head being pointed towards the rock below her.

"You're quite welcome, though I wish not to speak of it. It is much more embarrassing for me than it is for you." Vincent answered, still keeping his eyes to the sky.

"…I apologize." She said lowly.

"No need to apologize, the whole episode wasn't your fault." He responded, still giving her no attention.

"No, I apologize for bringing the subject up again. It wasn't proper on my part." She answered

"Nonsense, I would have thanked you as well should I have been in your position." Vincent revealed, and turned his head to her to offer up a small smile.

"Vincent…" She started, and before going on waiting for him to say something as she scratched her head.

"Hmmm?" he responded nonchalantly

"I remembered something about my past today…" Destiny started nervously.

"Were they your memories?" Vincent asked, and turned his head away again to focus on the bright moon that was gracing his face with rays of silver.

"…Yes." She answered before going on. "I remember something odd, something that feels familiar to me every time we lock eyes." She continued nervously, now wondering if bringing up the subject had been wise at all.

"This is an odd feeling for you to have. As I remember correctly, we have never met before." Vincent stated.

"I know it is odd. The memory that happened today… I remember I was five. I saw Miss. Lucrecia crying, and Dr. Hojo told her that her friend was dead…and then I woke up." Destiny said lowly, seeing that his face had changed almost instantly when he mentioned her memory.

"Well I do not know why you would think of it being related to me." Vincent lied, turning away from her completely.

"I too found it odd myself." Destiny answered in response "But…I thought that maybe you were the one who…" Destiny started

"No." He answered coldly. He did not want her to know about his past, or his affiliation with Hojo and Lucrecia, not after what she had told him about them.

"But you said…" Destiny answered

"No." Vincent answered just as shortly, but this time more irritated than cold.

Destiny learned something about Vincent Valentine at that moment. She learned that he was the worst liar she had ever met in her life. She also noted that he could be a cold hearted man as well, especially when faced with a past he didn't want her to know. She never revealed it, but she knew what was going on.

After her collected thoughts, she climbed down from where he was and proceeded to walk back to where Cid had set up their tent.

Vincent didn't call to her, or try to stop her. This was one time he had decided to actually follow through with being a cold hearted bastard. If he was going to act like that, it was all right and fine with her, but she would let him know about it later, when he couldn't throw something at her.

"Trouble in paradise?" Cid asked after Destiny walked into the tent he was in.

"No, but there is trouble in the realm of Vincent Valentine." Destiny answered, huffing as she sat next to Cid and his map.

"Awe, he's always like that, girlie. The man has a past colder than the bottomless pit of a well." Cid chuckled, and gave her a smile like a big brother would.

"That doesn't mean that he has to be such a jerk about it." Destiny grumbled

"Trust me; you'll know when he's being a jerk. This is just the way that damn boy is. He thinks that he is mature because technically he's about forty eight years old, but he slept for twenty odd years in that little coffin of his. Meaning I have years of experience on his long-haired ass." Cid explained, putting a hand on her shoulder. Perhaps he and Vincent had gotten into an "I am older" contest which caused Cid to even say the last few lines. Or maybe he was just old, and as and old man, he always had to bring up time. Ah, he wasn't THAT old, she decided.

"Don't worry your pretty little head over it, missy. That is just simply how he is." Cid finished, and before turning back to his map, after he gave her a wide grin.

"Thanks." Destiny said lowly, and stood up.

"You're not going to go try to talk to him, are you?" Cid asked, turning around to look at her.

"Oh yeah," Destiny answered confidently.

"I wouldn't, if approached the wrong way, he'll bite you just like a dog would." Cid advised.

"That's not nice!" Destiny retorted in shock.

"Maybe not, but it most certainly is true." Cid said. "Only bother him if you think you can handle him either giving you the cold shoulder, or giving you a good yelling." Cid warned.

"I can handle both." Destiny answered, and strolled out of their tent with a stern and confident look on her face, which left Cid to shake his head and mumble something about 'damn kids'.

Her confidence faded once she took a look at him, sitting there on his rock, staring up to the bright moon. Sure he acted like a jerk, but it was obvious he didn't want to talk about his past. Maybe he had a right to be stone cold about it. It's not like he tried to dive into her past or anything, so why should she do that to him. Perhaps a peace offering was in order. Glancing around trying to find something that was worthy to hold up to his face in apology, she found a single white flower sitting a few feet away from the rock he was perched on. It was really pretty, and had a nice glow against the moon's silver strands of light. She picked it immediately and made her way to where Vincent was sitting. She gave a huge sigh and climbed her way up to where he sat, this time not saying a word, but instead using her body language to talk.

She slumped down next to him, and unexpectedly, held out a flower to him, without looking at his face.

This caught his attention, and without a cold or mean stare, he turned to look at her sad face.

"What is this for?" Vincent asked, not bothering to take the flower.

"Sorry I tried to scoop information out of you. It wasn't my place. I'm also sorry I made you sad. So I thought, what could be happier than a flower, right?" Destiny explained softly, still holding onto to her white flower.

Vincent had no immediate response word wise, but his hand took the flower from her, and his eyes studied it carefully. A small smile crossed his face, but she couldn't see it thanks to his cape and her head still low from guilt.

"Thank you." Vincent said finally, and with his right hand pointed her chin towards his eyes. (He still to this day couldn't understand what made him do that, or so he told Destiny.)

"I'm sorry I tried to burgle information out of you, Vincent." Destiny apologized shamefully.

"It is fine, as a quiet individual it is only fitting that you be perplexed with my silent ways. Think nothing more of it." Vincent assured, turning his head back to the white flower.

"I am tired, so I'm going to go to sleep." Destiny explained softly, and turned her body to hop off of the rock. What was with the sudden mood change, she wondered.

"Wait." Vincent said suddenly, turning himself towards her.

"Yes?" She asked, her head shifting behind her to see him.

"…Never mind, I lost my thought, I apologize." Vincent responded, before he jumped from the rock. His feet hit the grass with a soft thud, and it took him no time to make his way to her.

"Let me help you down." Vincent offered, holding out his right hand.

"I can do it, but thanks for the offer." Destiny answered, pushing herself down from the place she sat. Her land was graceful; it was as if she had always known how to jump from place to place without missing a step.

"May I ask you something?" Vincent asked before turning to face her.

"Sure," Destiny answered, greeting his eyes with a smile.

"Where did you learn to do half the things you can do?" Vincent asked, quirking a brow.

"I don't really know, but I do understand that they are muscle memory, which means they must have been taught to me. My past is a mystery to me as it is to you." Destiny explained "I only get a small collection of memories at one time. They come in only once in a while, but it has only been until recently that I have seen anything from my past. I find it as an omen of something bad to come." Destiny continued on and gave him a sad look. "Sometimes we don't need to know our pasts to know who we are." Destiny added before going on, "We also don't need to know other's pasts to know who they are."

"I may not know your secrets, but I know who you are. And you may not know my past, but I hope you know who I am." Destiny said, and then turned from him to walk into their tent to sleep.

Did he know who she was, she wondered. Maybe he knew something, but nothing of her as a whole. Destiny was a woman with many secrets, and also many winding memories that just didn't seem to fit together, even for her. Many times did she dream of her family, and many times did she dream of a life she had. What had ever happened to those times? Did she make them up, or had they really existed?

Vincent could read her body language; she was in one of her cryptic moods again. He wouldn't stop it, but he didn't want it to continue either. Perhaps by morning she would be out of her gloomy mood and back to her cheerful self again. The best thing he could do was let her rest, because as he knew, resting only made you forget how you felt, but never healed wounds.

_She couldn't continue writing; it was so cold she could feel her lungs ice over…._

_He could walk on forever though…_

The night had settled in now and Vincent's eyes could barely distinguish the moonlight from the falling snow. He was about an hour out of Nibelheim and he still hadn't found her. He knew that if she died he would blame himself. His body was catching up to the temperature of the ice and sleet around him and he could feel himself shiver against his heavy cloak.

Had the walk he was on not been urgent, he would have stopped to appreciate the way the night was looking. He had never seen such serenity around him when things were in such calamity. He wished he could stop to enjoy it, but then he might be too late to help Destiny. How did he even know where she was going in the first place? He only started walking in this direction out of instinct, what if his instincts had been wrong and he lost time chasing nothing.

His mind was beating against him now, and how terrible of a man he had been to lie to her and to treat her like a child. If he had only given her a chance, or at least told her the truth, he wouldn't be searching for her now, trying to fix a problem that shouldn't have been started.

"Damn it." He thought out loud, now frustrated with looking for her.

"Oh don't be like that." He heard a voice said from behind him, and without looking at her, he knew who she was.

"…I'm not." Vincent answered, lying again.

"If you want to find her so bad why not keep going?" The woman asked.

"What if I am too late?" Vincent asked, folding his arms in protest.

"What if you aren't? That is something I've always wanted you to change Vincent. If you don't try, and don't stop beating yourself up, you'll never find her, and you'll never stop living in a dark, solemn shadow." The woman continued.

"Is that why I couldn't protect you?" Vincent asked

There was no response to his question, and he knew that she had left him once again. Lately her coaching voice had come and gone to throw some helpful advice along. What was she trying to say?

Lucrecia was a smart woman, so why not try to take her advice again? He would continue on to try to find Destiny, but he still had his doubts as to if he would find her.

_If only she could just… pick up her pen..._

_No use, her eyes were closing too fast._

He hoped he was getting closer, because he was getting just as cold as she was lying in the snow. As he walked and his eyes searched for her, she struggled with picking herself up from the cold, frozen and slushy water she was laying in. She could feel her geostigma acting up, and little by little it started to pain her more. Her geostigma usually acted up when she worked herself into a fit, and this time thanks to the fact that she was worried about death it caused her to feel magnified pain. The spots on her arm bubbled and spat out black liquids that drenched the white snow. To her it looked like black blood that threw itself against a white canvas to show her it was still there.

As her geostigma emerged from her skin she found herself screaming in agony, and trying to make it stop. It felt like liquid fire that had ignited in her blood stream and found its way out to explode on her flesh. It didn't burn on her skin, but it was killing her inside. The more her blood circulated to get rid of the disease the more her blood vessels burned with intense red heat that she could almost see through her pale skin.

"Make it stop!" she screamed suddenly, feeling tears crawl down her cheek.

Vincent's ears were on par as always, and he could hear her just to his left behind the silent trees. He raced against the wind and ice to reach her, causing his face to sting against the cold night. This did not bother Vincent, because all he cared about was saving her.

He swept himself past several obstacles before his eyes made contact with her now silent figure that was lying in the snow. His heart raced both from running and fear that he had been too late. In a matter of seconds Vincent was going to meet her form, and he couldn't make those seconds go by any faster. They felt like minutes with each step he got closer to her.

She had seen his blurred figure once he reached her, and her eyes could not embrace the fear that was plain on his face.

"Vincent…?" Destiny groaned softly.

Vincent had said nothing, but only responded with his arms that scooped her up to him. He was so glad to see her that he couldn't think of anything but holding her.

Destiny struggled against him, and pushed him away. She did not want to be his burden. She wanted him to go back home and just let her die.

"Why did you follow me?" Destiny asked angrily, pushing away from him.

"You're sick, Dest! I came to bring you back." Vincent answered, reaching for her arm.

"I am not your burden to take on." Destiny commented, and scooted away from his reach.

"No you aren't, you aren't a burden in the slightest!" Vincent responded, now feeling awful for the words he had exchanged with her earlier that day.

"Vincent, you picked me up a year ago and since then you have been nothing but worried about me. I do not want this. I want you to get over your past and live a happy life. Don't mind me, just let me go." Destiny begged softly, now sitting on her knees in the snow, but still wanting to crash to the fluffy ice below her.

"You aren't a burden!" He shouted, now remembering her head was as thick as his. "You mean so much to me…" He whispered, hoping she would but maybe wouldn't hear.

"Friends don't let friends ruin their lives for something stupid." Destiny answered him, and turned her head up to the falling snow.

"I am not ruining my life for something stupid." Vincent responded, and walked towards her. "I am making my life better with something grand." He answered and came to her level, sitting on his knees with her.

"But you said…" Destiny was cut off. She felt his arms coil around her softly and take her towards his body. She was so cold and he was so, so warm. Once she saw his face get close to hers, her eyes closed and he enveloped her lips with his for a cold and by no means passionate kiss. He had meant the act of affection, but could not bring himself to do it with a fire of passion. He loved her, and wanted her to come home with him, and that he knew.

His lips left hers a moment later and his ruby eyes sat downwards staring into her sapphire eyes that twinkled with a soft emerald glow. She had understood his cold kiss, and knew he loved her, but she didn't want him to. The last thing she wanted was Vincent Valentine killing himself to see her live.

"You're coming home with me. I want you there. I am going to save you." He said, pulling her closer to him again to warm her body up.

"Don't do this Vincent; don't kill yourself to see me live…" Destiny begged, trying to pull away, even though she had longed to be in his arms since they had met.

"I want you to live, and most of all I want you to have the life Shin-ra stole from you. Allow me to cleanse my sins by saving you." Vincent argued softly, and took her into a deep embrace. "I can't live if I know I allowed something to happen to you…" he added.

"Vincent…" she started, but he closed her words with another, cold (yet warmer than the previous) kiss. She did not want to be his burden, but it seemed he was gluten for punishment.

She wanted to go home with him; in fact she wanted that more than anything in the world. She just didn't want to be his burden. Maybe she wouldn't be, and for once she could have a life and a family of her own.

She loved Vincent Valentine so much. She would do anything to relieve him of pain. She would even die. But would that be enough to make him happy? If she died and even told him it wasn't his fault, would he listen? Vincent was just as much of an enigma as she was, the only difference was that she didn't wallow in self-pity the way he did.

"You are coming home with me." Vincent said with a soft demand behind his tone, and pulled her into an embrace again.

Destiny did not respond, but instead allowed herself fall into the cold realm of sleep where she had danced into. After all of the fighting and walking, she couldn't stay up another second. She was going home, and that she could live with just fine.


End file.
